. >> reporter: the head of prince george's county schools, kevin maxwell says the priority is keeping kids safe and he's not looking to change current standards. some feel change has to come after nearly 800 cases of abuse and misconduct by staff, just this school year. some board members now tell us they're working on their own plan >> i do know what we have had this year is not acceptable. >> there needs to be a plan there's no no plan for next year. >> reporter: our records requests shows hundreds of prince george's county school employees accused of misconduct and abuse. most of them put on leave >> we begin with stunning >> reporter: guidelines intended to protect have meant reporting and suspicions. some feel it's reached a breaking point. >> it's definitely an overrack, we have hundreds of innocent people that we placed out on administrative leave. i'm not confident they're going to me back to prince george's county public schools >>> school board members met with teachers and union representative his week to talk about solution >> it was productive. those are the types of conv

kevin maxwell told us that they are looking at making some adjustments in the policies. out this summer, and he does believe with some clarification that those reporting numbers will go down. live in upper marlboro, melanie alnwick, fox5 local news. >>> melanie, thank you. happening today, the man accused of killing an american university grad student on board metro train will be back in court. judge set to get update op jasper smears mental health he's under gone several mental health evaluations and was previously ruled competent to stand trial. prosecutors say smires stabbed kevin sutherland on the train as it approach the noma gallaudet station in 2015. >>> a racist message found at a maryland middle school. >> a noose found hanging outside of crofton middle school. fox5's bob because barnard is live there with more on this disturbing fine. bob? >> reporter: allison, steve, good morning to you. yes, this was discover crofton held school by a teacher who saw it hanging from an exterior light outside her classroom window in the cortyard of the school. this was again 11

for a cell phone tower al eleanor roosevelt high school after prince georges county schools ceo kevin maxwell complained to the company that it lacked transparency in the process. >>> who sells the most women lottery tickets? does that mean you should change where >>> metro's on time report card is in. the grades are not good but which lines are the worst at getting you to your destination on time? >>> grounded, taking away all electronics. 56 degrees out there. a very cool night tonight. many of you waking up to temperatures in the 40s. now it's not the temperatures we are talking about but the rainfall. ♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century. >>> if metro has ever made you late you are far from this. metro had on time rate of only 45% in march. not much better on the yellow line. just 53% meaning it was basically a coin flip whether you reach your destination on time. metro tells us it is aiming to have all lines with an on time rate of at least 75%. it blames safe tracker fares for the delays. >>>

kevin maxwell is look i want to go adjustment to current practices but stood by overall standards. >> how we conduct ourselves professionally will not change. >> reporter: he's heard of praise despite his critics >> i get many people saying thanks for what you do and keeping our children safe. >> reporter: board members say they're i'm going to continue to draft up their own plan to address this, presents that then to the full school board as well as dr. maxwell. sarah? >>> search is on for district man who killed five people in a drunk driving accident. the prince george's county state's attorney's office said a warrant is out for kenneth kelly supposed to be sentenced today but did not show up for his hearing. >> the judge gave him some time to show up. he still had not shown up. so the judge issued a bench warrant and as we speak, prince george's county sheriff deputies are searching to take him into custody on that warrants >> he pleaded guilty weeks ago to killing five people in a 2014 cross in oxon hill. prosecutors tell us been wearing a gps monitoring bracelet but apparently t

kevin maxwell after a board meeting last night.e defended the policies and said he's been thanked for keeping kids safe. >> i'm not going to say that we don't have, you know, some overreporting that's going on but i that in the context of we've had some very serious things done to our children and they are absolutely unacceptable and we will never, ever tell our employees not to report things that they think are child abuse. >> reporter: now, in the majority of these cases, the accused staff members are sent home on paid leave and most are eventually cleared. >> [inaudible] >> thank you for the latest on that melanie. we'll check back with you within the hour and get more on that story. >>> 4:35 and happening today at 8:00 p.m. at the verizon center game six of the best of seven playoff series between the wizards and the celtics. celtics hold a three games to two lead in the eastern conference semifinals. the series winner w will face the cavaliers in the eastern conference final and whiz and i have our towels and we're ready to ch

kevin maxwell. >> that's right after repeated requests for an interview we did catch up with dr. maxwell after tonight's school board meeting and i asked him about the incredibly high number of staff members who were being accused of misconduct. >> i'm not going to say that we don't have some over reporting that's going on, but i think you have to take that in the context t of we've had some things done to our children and they're absolutely unacceptable and we'll never, ever tell our employees not to report things. do you think the board l policies are fine. >> i think we need to make some adjustments that we're operating under. we've made some adjustments in our practices. >> staff we've interviewed say the new l policies and procedures are an over reaction to high profile abuse cases in this district. some tell us it's new to the point that if you touch a child for any reason you run the risk of being put on leave and that students know they can make up allegations to help get rid of teachers. in the majority of these cases the accused staff members are sent home on unpaid lea

we're also working to sit down with school's ceo kevin maxwell to talk about what's happening and what's next. live in upper marlboro oh, lindsay watts. >> now to fairfax county a 2003 fell over on some cars and trapped a woom inside one of them. it happened this afternoon at a condo complex in mclean. rescue crews were able to get her out safely. fox5's anjali hemphill is live with more. >>reporter: tony, this woman tells us she spent half an hour trapped in her car underneath all of these branches, hundreds of pounds pushing against her windshield until firefighters were able to cut this path to her passenger side door to pull her out. now, take a look at this video taken by a neighbor that shows the response out here this afternoon. you can see several firetrucks and an ambulance that showed up to the fountains of mclean condominium complex near tyson's corner. a you mentioned, today was gorgeous weather wise, a bit breezy, but not the kind of day anything like this would happen this woman did not want to show her face on camera but she tells me she just pulled into this sparking spot

kevin maxwell has pulled the plug. the milestone has not met our desired standards of transparency. >> we have been calling for transparency for years. >> that's greenbelt blogger who has obtained and cap published a copy of this lease. it gives milestone the right to build its cell phone towers on at least 73 of the 208 school sites. >> as the roosevelt parents showed, not everyone is on board for the idea of turning public schools into industrial communication sites. many parents fear it could be a health threat. >> what about the 73 other schools? there are a lot of schools that have cell towers in place right now. what will happen with them? >> for the meantime, roosevelt is now off the plate as a cell phone site but the school's ceo has not said how he feels about the possibility of the rest of the school sites becoming tower sites. the developer has not met standards of transparency about what they are doing. his administration, in fact, find the least with the developer to extend the lease until 2021. my from ro

. >> after requests to speaking the head of the schools kevin maxwell we caught up with him.ool board responded to maxwell on our air and his claims the controversial policy of reporting a abuse is keeping kids safe. melanie alnwick she's live in upper marlboro with more. mel? >> reporter: good morning guys. we really wanted to try to get some perspective on these numbers which seem to be high on the surface. this time last year, the school board the school system was still reeling from a coupe of high profile abuse involving deonte car apps away and sexual abuse of students he was in charge of another with humiliating discipline handed out by some head start teachers. so they looked at the school safety. they had a school safety task force and then they changed some administrative procedures. and reminded employees, contractors, volunteers that they have a legal requirement to report suspicions of a abuse or misconduct. now we find 788 reported cases of abuse or misconduct. this school year. which began last august. more than 150 reports made last month. in the majority of t

kevin maxwell has consistently advocated for the school systems needs including compensation enhantsments, teacher mentors, restore tif justice programs, meal programs and staff training. the board of educations proposed 2017-18 budgets includinged these items as well. they're scheduled to vote on it >> the redskins are back on the practice field. still ahead the life changing event that is facing franchise quarterback kurt cousins. >> and we've got new information about medical marijuana tonight and it's effectiveness in easing diseaseures. a father shares how that treatmt has helped hisen get free delivery -- -- save big on our most popular living room, dining room and bedroom sets. the memorial day sale at havertys. life looks good. to take on the "tom insurance companies and the credit card companies and the wall street banks... that's what tom perriello is about." progressive causes have been my life's work. i led non-profits to battle climate change, poverty and president bush's attacks on civil rights. now i'm running for governor to redu

>>reporter: we had to catch up with doctor kevin maxwell after tonight's school board meeting because more than a month we had been requesting a sit down meeting. those requests were about this incredibly high number of teachers who are being accused of abuse and miss cop you can did. my latest open records request shows nearly l hundred cases this school year. i'm not going to say that we don't have some over reporting that's going on, but i think you have to take that in the context we've had some very serious things done to our children and they are absolutely unacceptable and we will never, ever tell our employees not to report things that they think are child abuse. >> do you think the poly ses are strong, good? a. i think the board policies are fine. i think we need to make some adjustments in some of our procedures that we're operating under and make clear. we've made some adjustments in our practices. >> staff we've independent viewed say interviewed say they are over reacting. some tell t us it's now to the point if you touch a child for any reason you run the leave and that

withdrew its proposal for a cell tower at eleanor roosevelt high school in breen get after school ceo kevin maxwell complained to the company that it lacked transparency. we've all waited far metro train longer than we thought but it looks like some were longer than others. in march, the blue line ran on time only 45%. on the yellow line 53%. the green line had the most online trips. metra says it does want to improve to get the numbers to at least 75%. >> tonight a lot of you will be locked into what is the biggest day in d.c. sports in a long time. >> can't wait, the caps, wizards and nats playing tonight. excitement at the ice presidential electiplex, how's it going? >> reporter: good morning, we found fans who came in from as far as way as virginia beach for what they say will be a real life look at the finals-bound team. the caps jumped off the ice a few minutes ago but take a look. these guys are out here still working, some of them. fans say what you're looking at is the a team on a mission fine tuning skills they'll use to push the penguins out of the semifinals for a game some have waited

kevin maxwell to talk about what's going on and what's next. live in upper marlboro oh, lindsay watts, fox5 local news. >> american university release this individual of a person of incident targeting a black sorority on campus. take a look, police need your help identifying this person walking near the quad. police believe this person hung bananases from noonses around. the words were written on the bananas referring to the historically b sorority. earlier today school official met with students hoping to ease their concerns. they did more of the same which is kind of just talking around the issue instead of actually addressing what they want to do going forward. >> you weren't satisfied with what you heard in there rchl no, which is why we all left. >> there is currently a one thousand dollars reward for any information leading to an arrest. if you know something about the incident at american university, call police. >> now to fairfax county, a tree fell over onto some cars and trapped a woman inside them this afternoon. it happened at a con

kevin maxwell primarily what's being done to prevent a repeat of this next school year.th him. i've been asking for more than a month now. we're here at this meeting to and night to talk to him and get some answers. live in upper marlboro, lindsey watts fox5 local news. >> d.c. muriel bowser held a press conference. most of it spent fielding question on whether d.c.'s former chancellor of schools kaya anderson gave special treatment to officials. not illegal but it did spark an investigation. >> seven people may have been& given special treatment. former elected official. henderson said she did nothing wrong but tonight the mayor says she wants new rules in place for current and future chancellor. >> matt ackland following this story. matt we still don't know who these people are. >> reporter: that is the big mystery tonight, we simply don't know who these people are. the one big question is who was this former elected official? we're told that there was some mention of it in the ig report. no names keep in mind no names have been revealed by the inspector general. the o

kevin maxwell says he's looking at adjustments to current practices but stood by overall standards. > how we conduct ourselves professionally will not change. >> reporter: he says he's heard plenty of praise despite his critics. >> i will tell you i get just as many or more people coming up and saying thanks for what you're doing, thanks for keeping our children say. lindsey watts fox5 local news. >> the board members we talked to say they're going to work on their own plan to address this and then present that to to dr. maxwell. >> prince george's county council member mel franklin is apologizing for a dui crash he was involved in last year. franklin driving under the influence when he rear-ended a car stopped at a traffic light in upper marlboro last november. franklin was driving a government vehicle at the time of that crash. a judge sentenced him to probation and gave him a fine of $645. franklin released a statement that says in part i am deeply sorry to mr. and mrs. collins& and take full responsibility for the november 2016 car accident. that evening i letdown both mr. and mrs

kevin maxwell talked to us yesterday after a school board meeting.e defended the policies and says he's been thanked for that keeping kids safe. >> you aggregate them over a period of time it makes people think that those people were at one time. i'm not going to disagree with that and i'm not going to say we don't have some overreporting that's going on. but i think you have to take that in the context of we've done to our children and they are absolutely unacceptable. >> reporter: in the majority of cases, the accused staff members are sent home on paid leave and most are eventually cleared and returned to work. the teachers union, though, says that these false allegations are leading to low morale and having good teach teachers, good employees go to other school systems. there are currently 128 staff out on leave right now for these kinds of allegations. compare that to montgomery county that only has 20 that's the number they told us in april. dr. maxwell told fox5 that he believes these numbers are going to go down as the training goes on. back

kevin maxwell after a school board meeting last night. let's go back a little bit.fter the deonte carraway case in which several students were abused for months by the volunteer aide and it seemed that very few people reported their suspicions, that's when will prince george's county had a school safety task force and they mandated aggressive retraining reminding all employees they duty to report any suspicions of abuse or misconduct. and that is when the flood of reports started coming in. 788 reports so far this year reported cases of abuse and neglect according to a freedom of information act request obtained by fox5. more than 150 cases reported last month. now, on one hand those numbers show that the staff is taking its responsibility seriously. but some teach terse told fox5 it has gone too far. good employees are being falsely accused and classrooms are suffering. >> the morale is low. when teachers can leave here and go a surrounding jurisdiction where they don't fear for their job, for an accusation that is not true. >> we are mandatory reporters under stat