Montgomery County Public Schools has hired former Board of Education member Michael Durso to serve as the acting chief of staff after the departure of Brian Stockton.
But the new hire hasn’t been met with complete peace of mind. Some in the community have expressed on social media and online forums that they would prefer to see someone with a fresh vision for the district and critiqued Durso’s age.
In response to critiques on his age, Durso, who is 81, said, “Well, my age is what it is. I’m not sure I can explain that one way or the other. Folks are certainly entitled to their opinion on that.”
Former MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr slammed the district in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), calling the move “unbelievable.” Starr served as a superintendent of MCPS from 2011 until 2015, until board members lost confidence in Starr and voted to search for a new superintendent.
“I think it’s no secret that Mike was behind the orchestration of my ouster,” Starr told MoCo360, referring to Durso and board members’ role in his departure and non-renewal of his contract.
“But that is what it is. As a parent in the system, as a taxpayer, as someone who still is deeply committed to the system – and you know, here’s, albeit a biased perspective: I am curious as to how his leadership style and knowledge will help the system manage through the multiple crises that it has been going through.”
Debby Orsak, the president of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA), said the way she looks at the recent hiring is that Durso is simply a temporary placeholder until the district finds someone permanent.
Orsak said that one advantage to bringing on a former principal and board member is that he already understands the school system.
“Mike Durso can come in and he doesn’t need a lot of hand holding. He doesn’t need a lot of explanations for things. He knows the system. He knows our community, and he can step into this role and while they’re looking for a permanent chief of staff, do the duties that need to be done,” Orsak said.
Durso will begin the position on Jan. 16, MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram confirmed.
The hiring comes as the district attempts to grapple with numerous lawsuits, the aftermath of mishandling the sexual harassment investigation of a former principal, antisemitism in schools and safety incidents at schools across the county.
Since the news of Durso’s hiring – which was first reported out by Montgomery Perspective and was not announced by the school district – county residents and MCPS community members were eager to learn about the acting chief of staff’s pay, insight on how he was chosen and what comes next.
In a statement, Cram shared details of Durso’s new role:
“Mr. Durso comes to this role as a former Montgomery County Board of Education president, member, and former principal at Springbrook High School in MCPS. He will work closely with Ms. Nancy Navarro, senior advisor for external affairs, to enhance communications and partnerships with school and community leaders, association partners, and elected officials, including the Board of Education, County Council, county executive, and Montgomery County State delegation.
“Together with Ms. Navarro, they will also be focused on advancing the priorities of the Board of Education, which include a focus on math and literacy instruction, ensuring a safe and secure environment for students and staff, recruitment, retention, and distribution of diverse staff, and improving two-way communication between families and schools.”
Durso served on the Board of Education from 2009 to 2018 and was first appointed to the role to fill a vacancy on the school board. In 2010 he was elected to his first four-year term and then in 2014 was reelected. In 2015, Durso was selected as the president of the school board where he served until 2018.
Prior to serving on the board, Durso had a 44-year career in education with 13 years as the principal of Springbrook High School in Silver Spring. He began his career as a social studies teacher and was also the principal at schools in Virginia and Washington, D.C.
According to Cram, Stockton recently got married in October and tried to maintain a long-distance relationship with his wife but ultimately decided to join his wife in a new city.
“His wife, who is also a leader in education, has convinced him to bring his talents to a new community,” Cram wrote in a statement to MoCo360. Stockton’s last day at MCPS was Jan. 3.
Cram declined to disclose Durso’s pay to MoCo360, writing that a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) must be filed. Durso told MoCo360 that his pay will likely hover around a $230,000 yearly salary, although his pay has not yet been finalized and papers still need to be signed.
The chief of staff has one of the highest paid positions in MCPS. In February 2023, MoCo360 reported that as chief of staff for MCPS, Stockton made a yearly salary of $226,244.
Starr described the chief of staff position as someone who a “critical right hand” to the superintendent. They may be working long hours, be on-call, spend their time problem solving, troubleshooting, strategizing and preparing reports, he explained.
“It is a job that requires an enormous amount of energy and attention to detail,” he said. “You need to be able to think for the superintendent of schools, anticipate their needs and solve problems before they get to the superintendent desk. You’re managing distractions.”
It is unknown how long Durso will serve as the acting chief of staff and when the district expects to hire a permanent one. Cram wrote that those two pieces of information are “undetermined.”
For now, Durso said that he is ready to assist Superintendent Monifa McKnight and work with the board. Since his retirement in 2018, Durso has worked on projects and explained that he has stayed involved with MCPS “on an at-need basis.” He also works as a volunteer for the county’s Truancy Prevention Program run by the State’s Attorney’s Office.
“I do have a fairly extensive knowledge of schools and education and quite honestly what can work and what doesn’t work,” Durso said. “And I hope, that will be of some assistance to the superintendent in the school system.”
Janis Sartucci, a member of the Parents’ Coalition, a watchdog parent advocacy group, told MoCo360 that the group believes Durso is the wrong person to bring to the school system as it is in “recovery mode.”
Sartucci also stated that while Durso was a member and president of the school board, he had the opportunity to update the MCPS Code of Conduct in a way that could have prevented the long-term abuses of principal Joel Beidleman.
The watchdog group is left wondering: Why MCPS is “recycling” former school board members?