The new head of Prince George’s County Schools is excited for the start of the school year.
Shawn Joseph, who County Executive Aisha Braveboy appointed in June after Millard House II stepped down, came into the position with a lot of experience in Prince George’s County.
“What’s been a blessing is the fact that I’ve worked in the system before,” Joseph said. “I know the DNA and culture.”
The county school board approved a contract of $365,000 for Joseph to serve from July 1, 2025, until the end of June 2026.
Joseph worked as a teacher and educator in neighboring Montgomery County for 16 years, and from 2014 to 2016 served as deputy superintendent for Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS). Joseph, who holds a doctorate degree in educational administration from George Washington University, then went onto work as superintendent of schools for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) in Tennessee from 2016 to 2019. He most recently taught at Howard University.
Joseph’s tenure in Nashville ended in controversy after he was accused of improperly reporting 12 incidents of teacher misconduct and allegedly buying no-bid contracts with the education technology company Performance Matters, according to local news reporting in Nashville. Joseph had previously done business with Performance Matters and appeared in the company’s promotional material, according to that same reporting.
Joseph has said that the failure to report the cases of misconduct were the fault of the head of MNPS Human Resources, and that his relationship with Performance Matters didn’t play any role in the bidding process.
Joseph defended his time in Nashville to the Life & Times.
“I’m very proud of the work that we did in Nashville,” Joseph said. “There were some challenges, and I did get some criticism for moving too fast, but I always move with a sense of urgency to get things right for the children in front of me, so I don’t really have any regrets.”
He also said that during his time in Nashville, enrollment in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes increased, while suspensions district-wide decreased, and that he dramatically diversified the teaching staff to reflect the student body.
“The average tenure of a superintendent in this country in an urban district is about three years, and that was about what I did in Nashville,” Joseph said. “So that’s all I really have to say about that.”
Teacher staffing is a big issue in Prince George’s County. Joseph said that the school district teacher roster is now 90% staffed and added that the staffing of harder-to-fill positions in special education is also improving.
New dashboards now give realtime data on remaining vacancies.
Finding school bus drivers still remains an issue, Joseph said.
“Our community has to remember, we’re one of the largest bus fleets in the nation,” Joseph said. “We’ve been actively and aggressively recruiting, and we’re optimistic that by the end of the semester, we’ll get our numbers dramatically down.”
Understaffing is a major complaint the county’s teacher’s union has had. It was in part a no-confidence vote from the teacher’s union that led to former Superintendent Millard House II stepping down.
Joseph said that his relationship with the teacher’s union has gotten off to a great start, and that the county and the union have come to a tentative agreement that he hopes will be ratified by Aug. 29.
Joseph also has been engaging with the community and the school board, holding nine virtual meetings with the community in which he said he engaged with 1,000 community members. Joseph has now started a series of in-person community meetings held at different schools in all nine county districts, where members of that district can come and meet with the interim superintendent and their school board representative.
“One of our big focuses is transparency and accountability. I think the more we get out, the more we can just tell the facts, I think the better we build a sense of trust,” Joseph said. “It takes the school system, but it also takes our parents and our students to collectively work together to improve outcomes, and that’s what we’re striving to do.”
Joseph said that he doesn’t know if he’ll apply for the full-time position as superintendent yet, but he also didn’t rule it out.
“I think right now, my job, my goal, is to be a good interim superintendent,” Joseph said. “As I begin to work with the board, as I begin to continue to engage the community, I’ll get a better sense of if I’m the right match for the district, and if the district is the right match for me.”
Zephan Matteson is an undergraduate journalism major at the University of Maryland.