André J. Hornsby, the chief executive officer for the 140,000-student Prince George’s County, Md., public schools, has been cleared by a district ethics panel of charges that he violated system policies in his dealings with two educational software vendors, school officials reported last week.
The five-member panel was formed in October to investigate questions related to whether Mr. Hornsby had properly disclosed a close relationship with a representative from LeapFrog SchoolHouse, an educational software company that was doing business with the district. The panel also reviewed questions related to a 10-day trip Mr. Hornsby took to South Africa that was paid for by Bloomington, Minn.-based Plato Learning, Inc.
John White, a spokesman for the district, said the ethics panel found no policy violations concerning Mr. Hornsby’s relationship with the LeapFrog staff member because at the time he submitted his financial disclosure statement, she did not work for the company. The form is updated annually in January.
As for the trip, the panel concluded that Mr. Hornsby had accepted it while he was still president of the National Alliance of Black School Educators.
Mr. Hornsby was unavailable for comment.
