The Maryland state school board is threatening to withhold funding from Somerset County Public Schools if the district doesn’t vote in public on a contract with its attorneys.

If the vote isn’t taken within 30 days, Maryland’s Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright can withhold state funds equivalent to the legal fees it pays to its lawyers, Marc and Gordana Schifanelli.

Tuesday’s state board action — taken after a unanimous vote — is just its latest attempt to reign in a MAGA-aligned local school board that has run amok by allegedly violating state regulations, usurping power from its superintendent and blowing up the norms of acceptable behavior at public meetings.

All this is happening in a small, rural Eastern Shore county with just seven schools and 2,850 students.

Last month, Maryland’s inspector general for education said Somerset’s school board violated state law and its own policies when it hired lawyers without seeking competitive bids in a contract worth up to $100,000.

The board fired its attorneys in February and then hired Marc and Gordana Schifanelli behind closed doors, the report said.

The inspector general said the county board was allowed to discuss the firing and hiring of a new attorney in private, but violated the state’s open meetings act by not taking a formal vote in public.

Neither the chair of the Somerset County school board nor the school system immediately responded to a request for comment on Tuesday.

When asked for a comment, Gordana Schifanelli said in an email: “Your reporting is the dumbest thing I have read all day.”

School boards are supposed to be nonpartisan, but after the last election, a conservative majority in Somerset began taking a series of actions — from attempting to defund all the school librarian positions to firing the superintendent — that have angered some parents and teachers.

At several turns in the yearlong saga, the state board has weighed in by ordering Somerset to comply with laws and commonly accepted rules for school boards.

When Somerset’s board attempted to fire Superintendent Ava Tasker-Mitchell, Wright reinstated her pending an appeal. When Somerset’s board went to virtual rather than in-person meetings and limited public comment, the state condemned the practice.

When the IG report was released, Gordana Schifanelli said it was “filled with false information” and accused the IG of misapplying facts and the law. She said hiring an attorney is a personnel matter “reserved for closed session under the Open Meetings Act.” It’s treated differently under the law than hiring a bus contractor, for instance, she added.

Gordana Schifanelli ran for lieutenant governor on Dan Cox’s ticket for governor in 2022, but lost. She was also involved in helping to oust a superintendent in Queen Anne’s County over statements about the Black Lives Matter movement.

This fall, Somerset’s board and Tasker-Mitchell agreed that she would leave her job with three years remaining on her contract. The board has refused to release that agreement or say what it paid her to leave. She was owed at least $640,000 for the remainder of her contract.

The county will also have to pay attorneys’ fees along with salary and benefits for someone to replace Tasker-Mitchell.

In Maryland, a school board can only get rid of a superintendent for a specific set of reasons, including immoral behavior or insubordination.

The board said Tasker-Mitchell had been insubordinate.

In an appeal, the state board said the local board had violated Tasker-Mitchell’s due process rights by firing her before giving her a chance to defend herself.

The board has since hired David Bromwell, a former Dorchester County superintendent.

Parents have called for the board Chair Matthew Lankford to resign, but he has shown no signs of leaving. The state board criticized his behavior but said that it did not constitute a reason to remove him.

Alverne “Chet” Chesterfield, a state school board member from Somerset County, was the first to raise his hand to approve Tuesday’s action against the local board.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.