Baltimore City Public Schools CEO shares priorities on first day in new position
Dr. Jermaine Dawson started his first day on the job as Baltimore City Schools CEO.
During a visit to The Mount Washington School, he outlined his priorities.
"We want to make sure we have strong programs for all of our students, particularly our special education population. Number two, we want to make sure we have strong, rigorous programs for all of our schools. The third one for us is to make sure wrap-around support for prevention and intervention are in place where our students feel a sense of care and belonging," he said.
Dr. Dawson is a longtime educator who grew up in poverty and benefited from supportive schools.
"If you go to a school where you are cared for and they will hold you accountable and help you to understand, it doesn't matter where you come from, what you experience, that you can be whatever you want to be in life," he said.
The former elementary and math teacher worked as a principal in Atlanta and held senior leadership roles in other school systems before spending three years as Deputy Superintendent of Academic Services in Philadelphia.
Student literacy and retention
He comes to Baltimore facing challenges in student literacy, math, and attendance.
In 2025, Baltimore City students performed below average in math and reading compared to other students in large cities, according to national test results.
"We want to be the leading school district in the State of Maryland, and we're going after that goal in mathematics, in every subject area," said Dawson.
To do so, Dawson says he plans to foster an environment where kids feel a sense of belonging, care, and safety in school.
He also stressed the importance of reading and writing across the curriculum to support teachers.
Transportation issues and school closures
When asked how Dawson plans to address student transportation problems, he told WJZ:
"I recognize that there is a [transportation] barrier and I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and work with the school board, our cabinet, and also with our city and state legislators to really talk about this problem and to see what are some of the ways we can find some quick wins to make sure our students who are traveling hours, how do we provide rigorous high-quality instructional programming where there is high performance for students in their neighborhood so they don't have to travel so far? Number two is then how do we work with our partners at MTA and at the state level to provide some additional support, and then what can we do with our own transportation programs within the district to provide some quick wins and support our young people so they won't have to travel so hard."
In response to concerns about school closures, he stated, " If I could have my way, I wouldn't close any schools because our schools are neighborhood hubs. So, for us, it's real simple: How do we work with our principals to continue to ramp up our academic outcomes? So that parents feel that when I send my child to school, they are truly preparing my student academically, and it bears out in the state data."
Dawson succeeds Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises, who served as CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools for a decade.