Baltimore school officials met in an unscheduled, three-hour session Friday as debate intensified over newly selected schools executive Brian D. Morris, and whether the hiring process and revelations about his troubled financial history should cost him the six-figure job.
The meeting of school board members and school system CEO Andres Alonso followed a report in The Baltimore Sun on Friday detailing a 15-year record of lawsuits and bad-debt claims against Morris, including foreclosures, garnisheed wages and unpaid taxes. That report came two days after public officials began questioning whether Morris' appointment to the newly created and unadvertised $175,000 position was proper.
School officials left the meeting in the early evening and made no statements about their discussions or Morris' status. Reached last night by phone, Morris said he had no comment.
Schools spokeswoman Edie House said school officials had been unaware of Morris' financial problems until the published report. "We are looking into its accuracy and relevancy," she said.
The Baltimore Teachers Union held a news conference Friday to express concern over the appointment.
Marietta English, the union's co-president, said that after Friday's article about Morris' financial problems, members of her union asked how he could be trusted to oversee school funds.
English said the members are "outraged" over the board's decision to hire Morris to the high-paying post of deputy CEO of operations, particularly when they see so many financial needs in the schools.
"My phone started ringing at 7 a.m. ... My BlackBerry has been going off all morning long," she said.
The prevailing feeling among members, she said, was that Morris should step down, although the teachers union did not formally call for his resignation.
But at least one city official, Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, called Friday on Morris to resign, pointing primarily to the fact that the position had been neither advertised nor included in the school system budget.
"Brian Morris has been very loyal to the school system, and I would think he would want to perhaps withdraw his application and give everyone a chance to get back to business," said Clarke.
Despite the news about the real estate developer's financial problems, officials seemed most concerned about the hiring process. The school board voted him into the district job Tuesday, a day after he resigned as its chairman. The appointment was based on the recommendation of Alonso, whom Morris had a hand in hiring.
