Commissioner: School board chairman bungled rodeo trip

Only 600 county students attended event instead of 3,000

A District Heights commissioner claims Board of Education chairman R. Owen Johnson reneged on a promise to send 3,000 county school students to an afternoon rodeo at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, but the chairman says there was simply a breakdown in communication.

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo is an all-black nationally touring rodeo which schedules annual shows in Prince George’s County. The rodeo is named for Texan Bill Pickett, a famous black cowboy who performed steer wrestling or ‘‘bulldogging” from the late 1880s through the early 1900s.

Classes were cancelled Sept. 21 for students because of a professional development day for teachers. Within 10 days of learning the school system could not fund the rodeo, Martin solicited Washington metropolitan area businesses for donations, making it possible for 600 kids to attend the rodeo.

Tickets were given to students in District Heights Elementary School, and private religious academies in Morningside and Camp Springs. Officials at District Heights could not be reached for comment.

Parents were responsible for driving students to and from the Equestrian Center. Martin said the original plan was for school buses to transport selected students to and from the rodeo, so parents would only need to drive to the school and pick their children up.

‘‘He shouldn’t have waited until the ninth hour to disappoint 3,000 kids,” Martin said. ‘‘All those kids were home on that Friday with nothing to do.”

Johnson said somewhere along the line there was a breakdown in communication and that all parties involved should have had further discussion about the rodeo to make sure everything was in place.

‘‘It was my understanding the tickets were going to be gratis, that was our understanding on the school system side,” Johnson said.

Martin said last May he told Johnson tickets were discounted for students, costing $7, totaling $21,000. Martin said matinee tickets are typically $12 to $13. Martin said he was so excited he told the mayor and commission about the news during the next council meeting.

‘‘We’re sorry about that,” Johnson said. ‘‘It was unfortunate that that misunderstanding took place.”

Gregory Steven Proctor, president of lobbying and consulting firm G.S. Proctor and Associates in Upper Marlboro, paid for 150 tickets, introduced Martin to Johnson at the meeting in May. Proctor said the discussion about sending children to the rodeo seemed positive and he was under the impression children would attend.

Proctor found out plans fell through about a week before Sept. 21. He also said there were challenges, mainly that the children would not be in school because of the professional development day and that funding was never worked out.

‘‘I know Owen [Johnson] was interested in getting kids to the event,” Proctor said. ‘‘I thought it was just a homerun. I was very disappointed it fell apart. Even when I found out, I still thought we could’ve done something to work it out, and that never happened.”

Johnson said he would need to talk with Martin about what happened and if there will be a second attempt at sending children next year. ‘‘We have to see if that’s educationally sound or not, but we definitely have to have that discussion absolutely,” Johnson said.

Martin said he came to the county Board of Education for help with intentions of showing county students black cowboys do exist and are a part of western rodeo culture. During the afternoon of Sept. 21, Martin drove to the rodeo to get a sneak peek of the action.

‘‘The kids [at the rodeo] were just amazed,” Martin said. ‘‘They never saw black cowboys riding bulls. They never see their peers riding in the barn race. A nine-year-old riding a 3,000 pound horse, it’s just a thing that kids should see. Let us know how we contribute to the west.”

Convinced this would be the first time area children saw an all-black rodeo, Martin contacted metropolitan area businesses interested in donating money for tickets.

G.S. Proctor and Associates in Upper Marlboro, paid for 150 tickets. Eric Best, area director of the Upper Marlboro Budweiser plant on Crain Highway, also paid for 150 tickets. The city of District Heights paid for 150 tickets. Yvette Davis, an executive for Verizon Virginia, paid for 30 tickets and Carol Eason, owner of Bethesda-based company Beta Data Services Inc., paid for 25 kids.

Eric Best said he does not know any of the details about the miscommunication between Martin and Johnson, but applauds Martin for leaping to action in making sure a number of county school children got to experience the rodeo.

‘‘He was just so sincere,” Best said. ‘‘He identified a need. It’s just a case for a local guy trying to help. He’s just trying to help out in the way he could.”

Though Martin was glad 600 children could experience the rodeo, Martin still thinks about thousands more kids who could have shared the same experience.

‘‘It was absolutely awful that the kids were treated like that,” Martin said. ‘‘We’re talking about keeping kids first and to motivate them and show them good things and leadership. It was a setback.”