Baltimore City Schools CEO Out By Week's End

BALTIMORE, MD – There's a change coming to Baltimore City Public Schools leadership.

CEO Gregory Thornton, Ed.D., will be stepping down at the end of the week, school officials announced Tuesday.

Sonja B. Santelises, Ed.D., will take the reins in July. She is familiar to the school system, where she was chief academic officer from 2010 to 2013, according to a statement from Baltimore City Public Schools.

Thornton has been praised for several improvements in the school system's operations, including making free meals accessible to all students, growing the program by 20 percent in participation; creating a reengagement center for students who have dropped out; and drafting the five-year strategic plan, which the new CEO will use as a guide, the statement said.

Recently he has come under fire for reported lack of communication, lower test scores, higher dropout rates and several incidences of violence in the school system, including an assault by a school police officer on a boy who was not immediately identified as a student.

Santelises, who comes to the school system from The Education Trust, a D.C. nonprofit that works to close the achievement gap, will bring something new to the table, officials said.

"The board recognizes that the work Dr. Santelises performed as Chief Academic Officer in Baltimore set us in a direction where the students were improving," Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners Chair Marnell Cooper said in a statement. "We believe Dr. Santelises is the person to lead Baltimore City Schools for the next 10 years."

The board and Thornton began discussing modifying his contract in December, Cooper said. The result was a settlement agreement and a national search for the next CEO, which was narrowed to eight candidates before members unanimously voted on Santelises.

Thornton's contract was not set to expire for another two years, according to The Baltimore Sun, which reported he will receive his $290,000 annual salary for the third year based upon the settlement terms.

General counsel Tammy Turner will take over as interim CEO through June 30.

Photo Credit: Baltimore City Public Schools.