Several members of the public called for the Harford County Board of Education not to renew the school system’s contract with Superintendent Sean Bulson during the public comment portion of Monday’s school board meeting.

A handful of people, some of whom were affiliated with the local chapter of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, spoke during public comment Monday, insisting the board not renew Bulson’s contract, which expires at the end of June.

“Do you, the Board of Ed members, want to continue to be under this type of leader and eventually be tossed aside when the heat is turned up?” Jackie Johnson asked.

“Dr. Bulson has had plenty of time to get our students back on track,” Cristina Lanocha said. “We need fresh blood, preferably a local resident with deep ties to this community.”

The school board does not respond to comments made during the public hearing portion of meetings; and Bulson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Bulson, whose salary is $256,000  is under a four-year contract that was last renewed in 2022. He was originally hired in 2018.

Per state law, a county superintendent has until Feb. 1 of the year their contract ends to notify the local school board if they want to renew. The local board has until March 1 to decide whether or not reappoint the incumbent superintendent at a public meeting.

Harford Schools has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks as concerns about its hiring practices have surfaced, prompting some legislators and community members to question whether Bulson is fit to lead.

The superintendent has come under fire in recent months about Harford Schools’ hiring of one employee who was convicted of a felony when he was hired full-time, and another who was charged with crimes while employed at an elementary school.

An Edgewood Elementary School teaching aide was charged with illegal firearm possession after police say he was caught with a firearm in July while on probation for a separate 2024 case involving a ghost gun. The aide, Kairen Thomas, 28, of Parkville, is no longer employed by Harford County Public Schools.

Lawrence Smith, a former English teacher at Edgewood Middle School pleaded guilty in October to wire fraud and tax evasion charges from his misuse of overtime as a Baltimore City Schools police detective. He was arrested in 2023 and charged with 15 felony counts, including tax evasion and collecting $215,000 in fraudulent overtime pay.

In a video statement posted to YouTube last week, Bulson said the school system’s current procedures do not “adequately address” his expectations for “timely action, appropriate oversight and the best judgment to ensure the safest possible conditions,” in schools. He called the situation “unacceptable.”

State Del. Lauren Arikan called for the termination of Bulson’s contract last month after learning about Smith’s case, but the Harford school board told her then it was not going to happen. After learning of the Thomas case, Arikan demanded the board deny the renewal of Bulson’s contract next year.

“It’s time for us to find a superintendent that better reflects the values of the community out here in Harford,” she said in a letter to the board last week. “I find it incredibly disturbing that somebody with gun charges could be in school with our most vulnerable children. I think any parent is horrified.”

In November, Poynton noted that even if the board wanted to remove Bulson, it could not since the conditions of his removal would not fit state law.

To remove the superintendent, the school board would need a majority vote proposing the removal to the Maryland Board of Education, which has the final say. The board may remove a superintendent for immorality, misconduct in office, insubordination, incompetence or a willful neglect of duty.

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