Parents across Harford County were recently shocked to discover that Lawrence Smith, a former Baltimore City Public Schools police officer charged with 15 felony counts of tax evasion and committing $215,000 in overtime fraud, was hired by Harford County Public Schools. Smith is one of four eighth-grade English teachers at Edgewood Middle School.
As many people do, Smith documented his life on Facebook. He posted videos steering a boat on the Chesapeake, vacationing and coaching football. During these activities, he reported on his overtime forms that he was working.
Smith was charged in September 2023 and hired as a long-term substitute by Harford County Public Schools in December 2024. Worse, Smith was then hired as a full-time educator this August. HCPS either failed to gather these easily accessible facts about Smith or ignored them entirely. Either way, that is unacceptable.
When hiring teachers to educate our children, HCPS should pay closer attention to who they choose to lead their classrooms. They should not be hiring rejects from other school systems, especially not those being prosecuted for defrauding the taxpayer out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. To ensure such an incompetent oversight can never happen again, HCPS must conduct a full review of its hiring process.
After pleading guilty to two felonies last month, Smith wasn’t fired. He was placed on administrative leave and is receiving his full salary. As Smith awaits his sentencing, we are left paying him for what could be several months. It feels obvious, but apparently it must be said: It is a waste of our tax dollars to pay someone who faces up to 25 years in prison.
The problem is more fundamental than just the fiscal irresponsibility of HCPS. This kind of poor decision-making is a breach in the trust that taxpayers and parents alike place in the school system to steward their money well and keep their children safe. We have a responsibility to protect our students and provide them with the best education possible. Currently, with hires like Smith, we are failing miserably.
Harford County is home to many great teachers and faculty who embody the values of honesty and integrity. Students look to their teachers as role models, and they deserve educators who can encourage them to have exemplary moral character through their HCPS journey and after graduation. HCPS should hire only the best and most qualified teachers.
To restore community trust in HCPS, the system must strengthen its hiring process and keep those with criminal records and charges out of the classroom.
Our students deserve better.
Liliana Norkaitis is a candidate for the Harford County Board of Education, District C.
