Calls continue to grow for Harford County Public Schools to investigate why the district hired a teacher who was charged with stealing $215,000 from taxpayers. Some state lawmakers are saying they want answers.

“Parents are just like, ‘what has happened to our school system?’” said Del. Lauren Arikan, a Republican representing Harford County in the Maryland General Assembly.

On Dec. 1, Arikan sent a letter to Harford County Public Schools calling on the district to investigate its hiring of Lawrence Smith.

“I think there’s a lot of unanswered questions,” Arikan said.

Arikan’s letter follows a similar request for an investigation sent to the district last month by Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, also a Republican.

“I think the public deserves to know when they’re hiring teachers, what are the protocols that are supposed to be used – were they actually followed?” Arikan said.

In September 2023, Smith, a former Baltimore City Public Schools police officer and state champion high school football coach, was arrested and charged with 15 federal counts, many related to financial fraud. This past August, as he awaited trial, HCPS hired Smith to be an eighth-grade English teacher on a conditional teaching license.

In October, Smith pled guilty to felony wire fraud and income tax evasion. He admitted to stealing $215,000 in overtime pay from Baltimore City Schools. After he pled guilty, HCPS placed Smith on administrative leave and continued to pay him for about a month. Smith’s annual salary was $57,997.

Smith faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. His sentencing date has not yet been set.

HCPS Superintendent Sean Bulson said last month that when Smith was initially hired he was not made aware of the charges against him, but he supports his district’s decision to hire Smith to teach at Edgewood Middle School.

Smith was awaiting trial on the charges when he was hired as a long-term substitute in December 2024; the school system hired him full time in August. Harford Schools said in a statement that it “completed all necessary background checks” on Smith and at the time of his hire he “had not been convicted of a felony or charged with any crimes against children.”

The Harford County Board of Education said Wednesday that the district’s hiring of a teacher facing felony charges does not qualify as a condition that warrants the removal of the district’s superintendent.

“It did not raise a red flag that prohibited him from being hired, and he was the most qualified person to be hired,” Aaron Poynton, president of the Harford County Board of Education, said before a November Board of Education meeting.

“We hire a lot of conditional teachers. The fact that he had charges that were pending did not disqualify him from being hired,” stated Poynton.

Arikan said she is currently drafting legislation to help strengthen background checks for educators.

“It feels very much like to myself, and many other parents of young children, that the system is very broken,” she said.

Arikan believes if someone has been charged with certain felony crimes, that person should not be eligible to teach in Maryland public schools until the criminal charges have been resolved in court. The legislation, Arikan said, should be finalized by the start of the 2026 legislative session in Annapolis – which begins Jan. 14.

“If the teachers that they look up to are people who are scamming the system, ripping off the taxpayers, stealing money from people, I think most parents don’t want that kind of person teaching their children how to grow up,” Arikan said.

Harford County Public Schools, so far, has not publicly agreed to investigate the hiring of Smith. The district says it did conduct a “formal review,” which Fox45 News has filed a public records request to obtain.

Have a news tip? Contact Chris Papst at cjpapst@sbgtv.com.