The process to replace outgoing District 2 Board of Education member Jonathan Briggs, whose date of resignation is still unclear, is being run by the office of the county executive, not the county council. This is contrary to information the Greenbelt News Review received in writing last week from the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Board of Education office. One of the candidates on the November ballot for the seat has applied. The other candidate has not.
Appointment Process
On July 20, the News Review was informed in writing by two members of the PGCPS Board of Education Office, including the director, that the application process for the vacancy was being managed by the county council. That information is incorrect. PGCPS did not respond to a follow-up question asking about the discrepancy.
Under the Prince George’s County section of the Maryland Education Code, if an elected seat becomes vacant the county executive appoints a replacement to serve the remainder of the term (Md. Education Code § 3-1002 (2025)). That appointment is then transmitted to the county council. The council has no confirmation vote. If they do nothing, the appointment will be considered approved. However, they do have a disapproval mechanism and can block the appointment with a two-thirds vote of all members within 45 days.
So far there’s no indication the county advertised the call for applications in any way besides a single website post on the county executive page. PGCPS only communicated the resignation and vacancy to residents and area principals and released a press release last week, following inquiries from the News Review, almost two weeks after the application window closed.
No Answers
The News Review asked County Executive Aisha Braveboy’s office how the vacancy was advertised, how many candidates applied, the anticipated timeline for a decision and any opportunity for community input. On July 20, the County Executive’s Director of Communications Thomas F. Johnson II added Chief Communications Officer for Prince George’s County Brian Fischer to the email chain with our questions “for awareness,” and on July 28 Fischer acknowledged the inquiry in an email, writing that he would “send it along to get information needed to respond.” At press time the office had not provided answers to any of the questions, which were sent on July 20 and again on July 23 and July 28.
Current Candidates
As reported last week, one of the candidates for the seat in November’s election, Terence Clegg, applied for the interim position. Clegg said he was aware of the vacancy due to the posting on the webpage for the county executive, which is dated June 30. Commenting online on the News Review’s reporting of the vacancy last week, Clegg said he submitted his application materials on July 2, while on a family vacation.
Meanwhile, candidate Caroline Decaire-Goldin told the News Review she did not apply for the position. She said the community was not given appropriate notice and believes an active candidate shouldn’t be considered for the interim role “to protect the integrity of the upcoming election, with voters deciding this seat in just three months.”
“The process to appoint an interim District 2 Board Member should trouble every PGCPS community member, not just those of us in District 2,” said Decaire-Goldin in a statement released last week. As the News Review reported last week, the vacancy was not announced by PGCPS until a meeting on July 9, after the application window closed on July 7. “When something this consequential is quietly decided just three months before the general election, it reinforces the frustrations I have heard from numerous District 2 stakeholders,” said Decaire-Goldin, adding “Voters should ask who a process like this is designed to serve.”
The timeline and reason for Briggs’ resignation is still unclear, with PGCPS announcing he resigned June 30 while the county executive’s application announcement is itself dated June 30 and says he resigned June 26.
Decaire-Goldin along with others, including Greenbelt City Councilmember Jenni Pompi, have called on the community to contact the county executive’s office to request the application window be reopened and that any appointment not provide an advantage to current candidates for the seat.
2025 Precedent
The county saw a similar appointment process for a school board member in 2025. At that time, then-Board of Education Member Shayla Adams-Stafford had announced her resignation and intention to run for county council in mid-December 2024. An application period was opened to fill her seat on January 9, 2025 (according to a report shared at the April 22, 2025, county council meeting). That timeline meant approximately three weeks between Adams-Stafford’s resignation announcement and the opening of the application to fill her seat, compared to four days in the case of Briggs’ (using the earliest of the conflicting dates of his resignation). The window for applications for the 2025 school board vacancy was January 9 to January 23 — twice the length of the window for applications following Briggs’ resignation. The 2025 call for applications was also advertised by the county executive’s office, including on social media posts.
Prior Process
The previous process, as reported at the April 22, 2025, county council meeting, which included a public hearing on appointee Aimee Olivo, was said to have yielded 27 applications. Of those applications, 13 were rejected for residency reasons. Fourteen candidates were invited to interview, 12 actually interviewed and interviews were conducted by a panel of three persons over three days. The top two were then brought back for a further two-panel interview. Speaking at that council meeting, Olivo said she had gone through “a very thorough process” that included three interviews with six individuals.
This is a developing story. The News Review has submitted public information requests for records relating to Briggs’ resignation and the application process to fill his seat.