Representatives for the groups say that hiring a new, permanent CEO should be the province of the elected board that will replace the appointed board in 2006. They say hiring a CEO now would force a decision on the new board they would have little control over.

The only option would be to fire the CEO and hire a new one, putting the system without a leader again, they say.

The newly elected board, according to current law, would take over in December 2006.

Both groups have sent letters stating their case to The Gazette and to the Board of Education that seem to indicate a growing opposition to the board's decision to move ahead with the hiring process.

School board Chairwoman Beatrice Tignor, in an editorial board meeting with The Gazette last month said it was the board's intention to operate under the mandates of the legislation that created it to select a permanent CEO for the school system.

Last week she said that the school board would follow the current law to the letter and select the new CEO.

"By law I have to do what the law says," Tignor said. "We would be remiss if we neglected to do so."

Under the current law, HB 949, the new elected school board in 2006 would comprise five members from separate districts with four elected at-large. However, the separate district members would also be subject to a countywide vote, essentially ensuring that the entire board is elected at-large.

So far the school board has not begun the search for a new CEO.

Del. James Hubbard (D-Dist.23) of Bowie has been one of the few elected officials who have said publicly that the board should hold off choosing a permanent CEO and instead make an interim appointment until the elected board arrives in 2006. The board should focus, he said, on establishing sound academic policy and cleaning up the system's problems detailed in two separate audits released over the past three months.

He said he did not know about the grassroots effort until informed by The Gazette.

"It doesn't surprise me," Hubbard said upon learning of the movement. "I was one of the first people out of the gate to say this school board should not be allowed to the decision on a permanent CEO."

Hubbard said he did not expect the grassroots effort to have much effect on the process because the board would choose not to listen. Rather getting elected officials to make a change in the law should be the group's primary focus.

Sen. Gwendolyn Britt, one of only two senators in the county to support returning to nine single member districts last session, said that if the selection of the new CEO cannot be made by early 2006, she said the board should hold off on making a decision.

"We'd be knocking on the door of the election," Britt (D-Dist.47) of Landover Hills, said.

School board vice chairman Howard Stone said that the board was moving ahead with its selection process and would likely have a national search firm on board by late August.

"We're still working on it," Stone said. "We will soon select a headhunting firm to aid in our search."

Stone said he appreciated the concerns of the grassroots effort but called it "nonsensical."

"They can do everything they want but until the General Assembly tells us otherwise... the board is going to act and act according to the law."

Del. Justin Ross (D-Dist.22) of Greenbelt said reestablishing strong leadership of the county's 136,000-student system was imperative.

"I think we need a hired professional CEO and we need him now," Ross. "This is a billion-dollar school system ... this is too important to play politics.

"There's no guarantee that the elected board will pick anyone better and in the meantime we'll have wasted a year to 18 months where we could've had some continuity."

The school system has been reeling from the departure of controversial school CEO Andre Hornsby in late May. Hornsby was under both internal and federal investigation for his contract dealings with national educational software companies.

His administration was responsible for the purchase of $1 million in educational software from LeapFrog SchoolHouse in California, but it was later revealed that Hornsby was living with a saleswoman for the company while the deal was being struck.

An independent audit by the Huron Group also revealed that Hornsby also influenced who got sole source contracts (some recipients were prior associates of his in other states) and even halted bidding processes and chose the contractor.

Del. Barbara Frush (D-Dist. 21) of Calverton said she, too, was in support of finding a new CEO for the system.

"Right now it's probably a good idea to hire a CEO at this point instead of waiting," Frush said. "I'm just so worried about our school system."

Frush said waiting for the elected board to choose a new CEO could be in vain if the senators, who allowed a bill to die last session that would have restored a nine-member board elected from single districts, changed the law to allow the appointed board to continue. Observers say that option, though, is highly unlikely.

"It is the law today," Frush said of HB 949 passed in 2002 that established the appointed board and called for an elected one in 2006. "I'm not 100 percent certain about senators allowing the return of an elected board. It's a possibility."

E-mail Guy Leonard at gleonard@gazette.net.