Though Harford Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson has not communicated publicly since being placed on administrative leave about a month ago, the Board of Education is working off the assumption that Bulson intends to renew his contract to lead the public school system.

Bulson’s four-year contract ends June 30. According to state law, he was required to tell the board by Feb. 1 whether he intended to renew his contract, and the board’s vote on whether to renew the contract must occur during a public meeting before March 1.

It was revealed this week that Bulson sent a letter in November to the board formally requesting a four-year contract renewal — two months before he was placed on paid administrative leave amid an investigation into allegations about his conduct at a 2024 New Orleans education conference.

The board plans to meet in a closed session Wednesday and will not reveal the topic of the meeting. Acting board President Lauren Paige previously told The Baltimore Sun that the board would use a closed session to formulate how to proceed with Bulson’s employment.

The board has not publicly stated its plan for what happens when Bulson’s administrative leave expires Saturday.

It could negotiate a buyout for the remainder of Bulson’s contract and allow interim Superintendent Dyann Mack to continue in that capacity or bring Bulson back until his contract expires in June.

Paige said she is near certain that the school board would not renew Bulson’s contract for another four years.

Former school board President Aaron Poynton, told The Sun on Monday that the board had met a few times to discuss the possibility of renewing Bulson’s contract, but never took action. He said he had planned to bring a vote on Bulson’s contract before the board in January, but less than a week into the new year; a recording of a 911 call Bulson made during a school-funded trip surfaced.

In the call, Bulson reported that a woman he had invited into his hotel room had stolen his wallet, his cellphone, an Apple watch, an iPad, and his school-issued cellphone and laptop after he fell asleep around 2 a.m. The board placed Bulson on paid administrative leave Jan. 7 and Poynton resigned from the board the following day.

Two separate, independent investigations concluded that nothing was stolen from Bulson’s hotel room and that a hotel employee had found the items in a safe in Bulson’s room.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.