After  eight days of sick leave taken in the midst of an investigation into his behavior by MCPS, RM Principal Mr. Moreno Carrasco returned to school on April 24, and appeared on RMBC to respond to the allegations that have been raised against him.

He said that the allegations have hurt him “emotionally, personally, and professionally.”  However, he added, “I am now ready to resume my duties.”
The criticism began  on March 29 when The Washington Post published an article about Mr. Carrasco’s recently purchased golf cart, citing complaints from county advocacy groups that spending money on the cart was an example of excess during a major budget crisis.  However,  The Post also acknowledged that few at RM were particularly upset by the purchase.
According to Mr. Carrasco, the cart“ cost $2,300. Funds to pay for the cart came from our ICB Field Maintenance account.” He said that the golf cart “will primarily be used to supervise outdoor activities and will be available to community users who rent our fields.” It will also be used to monitor student activities during open lunch.
Criticism of the cart was led by members of the Parents Coalition, a political action committee “dedicated to improving the responsiveness and performance of the Montgomery County Public Schools,” according to a self-description on its Yahoo Listserv group. The Parents Coalition had also opposed the installation of artificial turf at RM.A week later, on April 7, the Washington Examiner published an article alleging that Mr. Carrasco may have violated the Board of Education’s code of ethics by allowing his side consulting business to interfere with his duties as principal.  The business, Executive Coaching Services LLC, was incorporated in 2006. Ms. Jeanette Plew, Mr. Carrasco’s wife, is listed as the president. The company has held sessions across the region, hosted by Mr. Carrasco. At least one was co-hosted by Ms. Veronica McCall, who is currently Acting Principal.
These programs ranged from a two-day institute for a principal and secretary team to a “Breakthrough Principals Network.” Prices ranged from $99 per person for the one-day regional institute for secretaries, to $700 for a two-hour introductory session for a school district.
According to the website, the goals of the “Breakthrough Principal Institute” are to allow principals to “experience significantly less stress” and to “do the principal’s job in eight hours per day.”
Minutes after Mr. Carrasco’s interview with the Examiner, the company website, Savetheprincipal.com, was shut down and all future events were cancelled, including a session of his “Breakthrough Principal” seminar series, scheduled for Monday, April 7, in the RM building.  This event was scheduled on a professional day for staff when students were out of school.
According to the Examiner, the company had also signed contracts with the Alleghany County Board of Education for two future events, one of which would have brought in nearly $10,000.
Mr. Carrasco declined to comment to Tide reporters on how often seminars were held and whether or not he had taken leave on those days.
On April 14, one more charge was made against the embattled principal. Florida-based educational consulting firm, the Breakthrough Coach, announced that it is considering suing Mr. Carrasco because of similarities in the material used by both companies.  However, according to Jonathan Drimmer, legal counsel for the Breakthrough Coach, the charges “would be based on copyright, trademark, and unfair competition violations.” The Examiner had reported that charges would be based on plagiarism.  “That said, we have not decided whether to take any legal action at this time,” he added.
“No one has brought up to my attention any copyright infringement. Any information printed to that effect is false and defamatory,” said Mr. Carrasco.
Soon after the story about his consulting business was published, MCPS announced that it would be conducting an investigation into Mr. Carrasco’s actions. 
According to the Montgomery County Board of Education ethics policy, under the conflict of interest clause, employees “may not engage in any employment that would affect their usefulness as employees in the system, [and] would make time and/or energy demands upon the individuals that could interfere with their effectiveness in performing their regular assigned duties.”
An ethics panel of 15 community members will determine the outcome of the investigation, although Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast has the power to take independent action after its completion.
“I’m going to wait for all the information to come out before I make a judgment one way or the other.  While I trust our employees and try to give them the benefit of the doubt, I am certainly concerned about potential violation of the Board’s ethics policy and I want to make sure this matter is thoroughly investigated,” said Student Member of the Board of Education Ben Moskowitz.  Other members of the Board contacted for this article were unwilling to comment due to the ongoing investigation.
Mr. Carrasco stressed that all charges that have been published are simply allegations and will remain so until the results of the investigation are released.
“The matter is under investigation and we will take appropriate action as warranted upon the completion of the investigation,” said District spokesman Brian Edwards.
Reaction to the news has varied widely across the school community.  Students, parents, and community members have posted scores of comments on the Examiner’s message board following publication of the stories.  The sentiments range from outrage to ardent support of the administration. 
RM Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) President Kate Savage said that she “learned about it at first from the Parents Coalition. It’s an issue between Mr. Carrasco and MCPS. It’s a personnel issue.”
At a recent PTSA meeting, parents voted to publish a letter of support for the administration.
The letter, which was posted on the PTSA Listserv by Ms. Savage, expressed the PTSA’s “firm confidence in the achievements, direction, compassion, and integrity of the RMHS Administration,” citing recent examples of student and faculty success as evidence.
In an email to the listserv, PTSA Publicity Chair Candice Haaga urged the RM community not to make a premature decision on either side. “People tend to go to one extreme or another, either leaping to defend the principal and implying that no one should dare question his integrity (not in keeping with a democratic process), or jumping to worst-case, premature conclusions (also not good for democratic process). Neither helps lessen our collective distress,” she wrote.
The Board of Education has not yet announced when the investiagtion will be concluded.