The first ever elected members of the Baltimore City School Board sat down with FOX45 in their first interview since being sworn in as commissioners.
Kwame’ Kenyatta-Bey and Ashley Esposito have been on the school board for about a year and a half. FOX45 spoke with the two commissioners about their historic roles and the biggest challenges they’ve faced so far. One of the most important issues was whether city schools should make a change in leadership.
Sonja Santelises is beginning her ninth school year as CEO of the Baltimore City Public School System. She oversees the education of more than 75,000 students and manages a $1.7 billion budget. During her tenure, some metrics improved, but many key academic measures have dropped.
In 2016, when Santelises began as CEO, city schools had the lowest graduation rate in the state at 70.65%. Now, the most recent state data shows city schools still at the bottom with a graduation rate of 70.57%.
In June, the school board voted to give Santelises a one-year contract extension. Kenyatta-Bey and Esposito voted for the contract, which ends in June 2025.
FOX45 asked the two elected board members if they want to see Santelises stay beyond her current contract.
“It is not about a personality, it’s about what’s best for our students, what’s best for our children,” Kenyatta-Bey replied. “That decision as to whether we move forward or not … is going to be totally a business decision that’s based on what’s improving. Where do we need to be to improve, and where are we going to go next?”
In response to the same question, Esposito said the decision will be made by the school board as a whole.
“Because this is like a body decision … I don’t really feel one way or the other,” she said.
Esposito went on to explain, “My opinion and how I’m kind of like moving through the space is like evolving and like changing. So, I’m really relying on all of us having a conversation. We definitely have some new commissioners. So, yeah, all of us come from different backgrounds and the process is complicated.”
If the school board decides not to offer Santelises another contract in June 2025, the board would need to conduct a national search for her replacement, which takes time.
“Well, I think it depends, because I’ve seen jurisdictions that do that search in two months. I’ve seen that it really depends on the consultant that you have. It depends on how much community engagement you have,” Esposito said. So, what do we have, 200 and some neighborhoods in this city? So, making sure that all of those diverse communities have a stake and are able to give input into, okay, here’s how my needs are getting met, here’s how my needs aren’t getting met. And really like help us like through this process.”
The CEO’s contract negotiation is just one of many major decisions the two elected school board members made in their first term. In the hour-long interview, we asked them if city schools students are receiving the education they deserve and if taxpayers can afford to keep funding a school system that is now spending nearly $23,000 per student, per year.
