BEL AIR, Md. — Five years after taking the job, Dr. Sean Bulson earned the distinction of being named the Maryland Superintendent of the Year, but it was the following year that a work trip to New Orleans set the stage for an alleged theft from his hotel room by an unknown female suspect that has now surfaced leading the Board of Education to place him on administrative leave with pay.
Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly says they should take it a step further.
“I call on the board to terminate Dr. Bulson’s contract and put somebody else in there and let’s quit damaging our community, our students,” said Cassilly, “This is just… gotta move. Decisive leadership. That’s what we need right now.”
While the board wants to investigate what school-supplied electronics may have been stolen and if any confidential information was breached, Cassilly says the morality clause in the superintendent’s contract carries a clear expectation.
Top schools exec in Harford County placed on leave
It’s not so much what the superintendent has said about the incident, but what he hasn’t said that concerns the county executive.
READ MORE: Harford County Superintendent placed on administrative leave as investigation begins
“We saw the 911 tape. Everybody agrees that’s a legitimate tape and that (it’s) clear to me from that tape that he breached that standard,” said Cassilly, “and as a leader, he had two choices. He could have come out immediately and offered some kind of rational explanation that is pretty tough, but maybe he had something there or he could have resigned. Dr. Bulson chose a third choice, which was to just sit and say nothing. Well, a leader doesn’t have that option.”
Bulson’s suspension comes as the Board of Education’s president, Aaron Poynton, has resigned to take another position.
READ: Harford Co. Board of Education President resigns day after School Superintendent was placed on leave
While the two are unrelated, the school system is left to scramble existing leadership roles, and to that end, Interim Superintendent Dr. Dyann Mack has issued a public statement saying, in part, “My focus is, and will remain, on ensuring stability, and steady, strong, and thoughtful leadership for our school system.”
