Five members of the Prince George's County school board are calling for the board's chair and vice-chair to resign.
The fallout comes after the county lost a $6.5 million federal grant for its Head Start program following a federal investigation into allegations of student abuse.
The county's public schools system and board of education were told that the grant was terminated due to failure to "timely correct one or more deficiencies," a spokesperson said last week.
The program was apparently under a federal investigation for months after a review by the Administration for Children and Families allegedly revealed poor instructor training and alleged abuse of students.
In a letter to County Executive Rushern Baker III dated Monday, five school board members expressed their lack of confidence in the leadership of Board Chair Segun Eubanks and Vice Chair Carolyn Boston.
They criticized the handling of an incident involving the alleged abuse of 3- to 5-year-old children, saying the board was not informed of the allegations until an emergency conference call held Aug. 17.
The board members said the letter from the U.S. Department of Health that terminated federal funding for the county's Head Start included findings dated March 1, but that they received the letter from the board chair only a minute before the call.
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"Their handling of this incident... of which the full Board was not properly and adequately informed, represents a continual pattern of the Board Chair and Vice Chair taking independent action which supports why we are seeking their immediate resignations," wrote members Beverly Anderson, Edward Burroughs III, Zabrina Epps, Verjeana M. Jacobs and Sonya Williams.
Baker said he has faith in the school board's chair and vice chair.
Stay with NBCWashington.com and News4 for more on this developing story.
