UPDATE: Interim Superintendent Verletta White has released the following statement:

“We are surprised and saddened to hear about the charges against former superintendent Dallas Dance. It is important to note, there are no accusations of wrongdoing by the current administration or me. I have full confidence in the integrity of our staff and organization as a whole. We will stay focused and continue to work diligently to provide the best education possible for our more than 113,000 students.”

Original story below…

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State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt announced on Tuesday that a grand jury returned an indictment charging Shaun Dallas Dance, former Superintendent of the Baltimore County Public Schools, with four counts of perjury arising from his Financial Disclosure Statements for 2012, 2013, and 2015.

The charges allege that from July through December, 2012, Dance actively negotiated and in December, 2012 signed, a no-bid contract between BCPS and SUPES Academy, LLC, while working for SUPES and related company Synesi Associates, LLC.

The first count alleged that, on his Financial Disclosure Form covering 2012, filed under oath in 2013, Dance allegedly falsely reported that he had no interest in any companies during 2012 and that he had no sources of earned income other than BCPS, when he actually owned Deliberate Excellence Consulting, LLC and was personally paid $ 500.00 by SUPES and $13,500.00 from Synesi.

During 2013, Dance was allegedly paid nearly $72,000.00 by Deliberate Excellence Consulting, for services rendered by Dance to Synesi, City of Providence Public Schools and Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Education Services.

The second count alleges that on August 29, 2016, Dance amended his 2013 Financial Disclosure Statement, filing an addendum under oath stating that he earned no income from Deliberate Excellence Consulting during 2013.

It is alleged in the third count, that Dance continued to own Deliberate Excellence Consulting, LLC, and personally had income of about $12,000.00 from other entities, yet reported under oath on his 2015 Financial Disclosure Statement, filed in April, 2016, that he had no business ownership, and that he had no sources of earned income other than BCPS and “DEC, LLC”.

The final count alleges that in August, 2016, Dance amended his Financial Disclosure filing for 2015 by filing an addendum under oath stating that he earned nothing from Deliberate Excellence, LLC in 2015 although he received about $47,000.00 for services rendered by him through the company.

“Parents of Baltimore County Public students should be able to trust that their Superintendent of Schools is carrying out his duties, honestly, with transparency and in the best interests of the students and the schools,” said State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt.  “Any violation of that trust is intolerable.”