Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Shaun Dallas Dance, a former Baltimore County Public School superintendent who recently pleaded guilty to four counts of perjury, was sentenced on Friday to six months in jail.
Judge Cathleen Cox ruled that Dance would spend up to five years in prison with all but six months suspended for failing to disclose additional income from part-time consulting work and payments from a company he helped win a no-bid contract with BCPS.
“The state was gratified that there would be a period of incarceration,” Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt said, describing Cox as “a good and fair judge who saw it seriously.”
After the sentencing, Dance left the courthouse in a rush, staring straight ahead with a tight jaw. He offered no comment as a mother of a Catonsville High School student shouted after him “you betrayed my children, Dr. Dance.”
Dance is to report to the Baltimore County Detention Center next week. He will serve two years of supervised probation and 700 hours of community service, after the six month term.
The state had recommended that Dance spend at least 18 months of the five years in jail, a memorandum showed.
“It should have been 18 [months],” Kristen Piscopo said, a mother of a seventh grader. “He let us all down. Baltimore County deserves better.”
Davitt said that the message the judge tried to send through Dance’s sentence was that the abuse of trust in a position of power is harmful and very serious.
“At any stage this could have stopped, but it didn’t,” Davitt said. “Thousands of students looked up to the defendant as a mentor and a role model and he breached that trust.”
The defense fought for a more lenient sentence after Dance pleaded guilty last month. Dance’s attorneys said the former superintendent thought his dealings with SUPES Academy were public record and that he was underpaid for the work he did. According to Dance, his impressive achievements––even at a young age––“benefited others, not himself.”
One of Dance’s attorneys, Andrew Graham, insisted that while Dance made a “foolish error,” there were two kinds of perjury: One that can be easier to make by mistake when filling out forms, and one that is more deliberate when swearing an oath on the witness stand. Cox interjected and reminded Graham that Dance already had been the focus of two ethics investigations and still failed to disclose information.
“That was utter foolishness, your honor,” Graham said, continuing to explain that Dance did not disclose that information for fear that his dissidents “might say something.”
Six character witnesses testified in favor of Dance, pointing to his hard work and dedication to the students of Baltimore County and to his “kind and generous character.” They said he had inspired them or their own children.
The defense argued that Dance had learned his lesson because he had already lost his career and the trust placed in him, and that his “error” should not take away from all the things he had done for the county.
“I’m embarrassed, ashamed, I’m remorseful,” Dance said, after the prosecutor and defense spoke.
Dance admitted he let down two of the people most important in his life; his mother and his 8- year-old son who had Face-timed him in the car ride to the sentencing to wish him a happy birthday.
Dance began his career as superintendent of Baltimore County in 2012. He allegedly had falsely written on Financial Disclosure forms in 2013 and 2015 and falsely asserted in 2016 that he had not had any additional income. However, he had received tens of thousands of dollars from his company Deliberate Excellence, as well as payments for consulting from SUPES Academy and other corporations and groups.
Davitt said he was satisfied that “a period of incarceration was imposed.”
The sentence was “sending a message to the community, not just school officials but all public officials, that when you are in a position of trust and you abuse that trust, it’s extremely harmful to the public and it just simply can’t be tolerated,” said Davitt.