Board Member Said to Have A Conflict in Redistricting

A small group of Calvert County parents has filed an ethics complaint against Board of Education member Robert L. Gray, alleging he had a conflict of interest when he advocated and voted for the latest elementary school boundary redistricting plan.

Gray (Huntingtown) was president of the board at the time. He rejects the assertion that his work as a real estate lawyer raised any conflict of interest in connection with the March vote on new attendance boundaries.

The school board unanimously approved a redistricting plan to reassign as many as 750 students when Barstow Elementary School opens this fall. The plan also reduces enrollment at schools in the central part of the county, a factor that will allow additional residential development in that area.

The complaint was filed originally with the Calvert County Ethics Commission on May 14. The parents involved, all with children affected by the redistricting, said they have since learned the issue is outside the jurisdiction of the county's commission. They said they were told the matter most likely will be referred to the Board of Education's ethics commission, although they have not been notified that such a move has happened.

Gray said that the complaint had been "thrown out" and that there are no longer any ethics complaints pending against him. Sheryl Jones Alu, chairwoman of the Ethics Commission, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The three parents bringing the complaint allege that Gray could benefit financially from the decision on attendance boundaries. After the close of two public hearings, they assert that Gray introduced "several 'new' considerations" for the redistricting process, such as keeping the capacity at the new school low. The late announcement of those factors prevented parents from commenting on them during the hearing process.

The parents also question why some of the boundaries of Huntingtown Elementary School, the district where Gray lives, were "off limits" to the redistricting committee, a group of school officials, parents and county representatives who drafted two redistricting options.

"Gray took the lead in arguing strongly for Plan 2, repeatedly emphasizing that Plan 2 fit the new 'considerations' and Plan 1 did not," the parents wrote in their complaint. "The [school board] clearly made its decision on this basis, and at the urging of Mr. Gray, completely ignoring the fact that Plan 1 fit all of the publicly vetted considerations considerably better than did Plan 2."

The parents are also demanding that Gray's financial disclosure forms be made public, as is required by the school system's administrative policy and the board's ethics policy.

Gray said in an interview Tuesday that other than one comment from a parent at a public forum, no one ever mentioned that he might have a conflict of interest during the redistricting process. He said he was frustrated when the parents filed an ethics complaint against him before discussing the matter with him personally.

When asked whether his work as a real estate lawyer presented any conflicts of interest, Gray said, "absolutely not."

The parents disagree. They are asking that an ethics panel investigate Gray's potential conflicts. Ultimately, they want the school board's decision declared invalid and the redistricting process reopened. The parents are also part of a larger group that has filed an appeal of the decision with the State Board of Education.

"Everybody's been touched by redistricting," parent Nick Meyers said. The current boundary changes are the fourth redistricting the county has had in 10 years.

"They can't do this," Meyers said. "It's just not fair."

Staff writer Christy Goodman contributed to this report.