Gov. Wes Moore announced the appointment of three new members of the Maryland State Board of Education on Wednesday — at a time when the state superintendent’s position may hang in the balance.

The trio — outgoing Prince George’s County Public Schools CEO Monica Goldson, former Montgomery County high school teacher-turned-lawyer Samir Paul and Howard County High School student Abisola Ayoola — now hold critical votes on the future of State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury.

Choudhury has until July 1 to notify the board if he wishes to remain in the position past June 2024.

If he intends to stay, the board must vote on whether to renew his contract and notify him of the decision within one week of its July 25 meeting.

The board’s executive director, Zach Hands, declined to comment Wednesday on Choudhury’s decision, saying in an email that, “The Board cannot discuss publicly at this time.”

After this week’s appointments, there are no longer any vacancies on the 14-seat board, Hands said.

Last month, Board President Clarence Crawford said he wouldwelcome Choudhury to remain, and Vice President Susan Getty said the state is “extremely fortunate” to have him.

Those comments in support of Choudhury came on the heels of public complaints from outgoing state education department employees detailing a dysfunctional and toxic workplace and a turnover rate that they say leaves the state unprepared to implement sweeping reforms, such as those required by the Blueprint for Maryland’s future.

Between July 2020 and June 2022, Maryland also returned $844,000 in grants for career and technical programs to the U.S. Department of Education, which former employees blamed on mismanagement.

Former department employee Nina Roa described how salaries for staff in the state’s Division of Career and College Readiness are partially paid with funding from the grant. Unfilled vacancies within the division, she wrote, led to Maryland having to return federal funds. Roa left her position with the department on July 15, 2022.

“This is unprecedented,” she wrote in a Feb. 19 letter, obtained by The Baltimore Sun, to the state board. “I warned the senior executive leadership team of this issue, which went ignored. My team and I presented multiple plans to the Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning which would have reduced the amount of funds returned to the [U.S. Department of Education], but each recommendation was summarily dismissed.”

Assistant State Superintendent Justin Dayhoff said last month that the return of the funds — which would not have gone directly to schools paying for salaries, professional development and conferences — was a result of the pandemic.

In addition to voting on the state superintendent, the board sets policy, standards and regulations for pre-kindergarten through high school education and vocational rehabilitation services, according to Moore’s office. The board also reviews and approves the first drafts of budgets for the department of education headquarters, state aid to local education and state-aided institutions. Those budgets then must pass through the General Assembly.

After a year as interim chief executive, Goldson was appointed to lead Prince George’s County Schools in 2019. She announced in January she is retiring from the position at the end of this month.

“It is an honor to continue doing my life’s work, transforming the lives of children and public education,” she said in an email through the governor’s office.