Several Maryland legislators yesterday called for a broader investigation of Prince George's County schools chief Andre J. Hornsby and his role in the purchase of $1 million in educational software from a California company.
The lawmakers, including Sens. Paul G. Pinsky and Ulysses Currie, spoke out after learning that the company's president resigned this week in response to an internal review of the transactions, which occurred in June. Hornsby played a role in overseeing the purchases without disclosing that he lives with Sienna Owens, then a saleswoman for the company, according to Prince George's school officials.
Schools chief Andre J. Hornsby at a news conference last month. His dealings with two educational software companies have been questioned.
(Mark Gail -- The Washington Post)
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A spokeswoman for the firm, LeapFrog SchoolHouse, said yesterday that Owens no longer works for the company and that neither does its Maryland sales representative, Debora Adam.
The company president, Bob Lally, resigned after the internal review raised questions about how commissions from the sale were handled, said spokeswoman Cherie Stewart, who declined to discuss details. Lally's resignation was first reported yesterday by the Baltimore Sun.
Stewart said she could not say whether Owens and Adam were fired or resigned. Reached on her cell phone last night, Owens declined to comment. Adam did not respond to a phone message.
"Whatever the venue, whatever the setting, I think Dr. Hornsby has to at least stand up and give an explanation to the public about what's going on here," said Currie (D-Prince George's).
Currie said he will ask Nancy S. Grasmick, the state superintendent of schools, to appoint an independent panel to investigate Hornsby because he believes the county school board has not looked deeply enough into the matter.
Pinsky (D-Prince George's) agreed that Lally's resignation raises concerns. "If a multimillion-dollar corporation has seen fit because of ethical concerns to remove their CEO, it has serious implications for the county," he said. "It appears the Board of Education has not done the kind of thorough investigation that needs to be done."
Several agencies, including the FBI, have been examining the LeapFrog SchoolHouse purchase in the past two months. Until yesterday, a number of state and county officials had remained cautious in their criticism of Hornsby, and county school board members had continued to strongly defend him.
But the resignations of the company president and the departure of the two saleswomen have shaken school board members. At a closed-door meeting last night, the board voted to hire an independent auditor to determine whether Hornsby has committed any fraud in the purchases he has overseen, including the LeapFrog transaction. Board member Judy Mickens-Murray (Upper Marlboro) said she was "constantly reassured by [Hornsby] that there is no basis for any of these allegations, and I'm just bewildered."
Still, when asked about LeapFrog's investigation of the handling of the commission, school board Chairman Beatrice P. Tignor (Upper Marlboro) said, "That's their concern, it's not our concern."
LeapFrog SchoolHouse officials had said they believed that Owens was not involved in the Prince George's transaction because she was responsible for selling products to Virginia schools at the time. Adam was the Maryland sales representative and received the commission, company officials had said.
Stewart, the firm's spokeswoman, said that federal investigators have contacted LeapFrog to discuss the purchase. "We will cooperate with anyone on any level on this," she said. "We take any matters of impropriety seriously."
Stewart would not discuss what the firm has concluded from its inquiry, citing privacy and legal issues. Reached on his cell phone yesterday, Lally declined to comment. In an interview weeks before he resigned, Lally said that the company had paid the commission to Adam but did not know what happened after that.
Hornsby declined to comment yesterday. When asked during an interview in October if Owens received part of the commission, he said: "I have no knowledge of her profiting from the purchase."
Hornsby acknowledged in that interview that he was closely involved in the June transaction. E-mails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that he had direct communication with Adam and Lally since last year regarding the school system's use of LeapFrog products.
In one e-mail to Hornsby dated July 19, Lally offered to give the school system $50,000 in free materials in exchange for its involvement in an unspecified research project.
Staff writers Ovetta Wiggins and Eric Rich contributed to this report.
