www.ROCedition.com
R C Edition OCEAN PINES • WEST OCEAN CITY • BERLIN MD
June 1, 2026
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
Volume 3, Issue 26
Former SDHS teacher case draws renewed scrutiny amid questions over past WCPS leadership By Santino Guido ROC Edition Editor The criminal case involving former Stephen Decatur High School music teacher Ronald Lee Davis continues to draw attention to how allegations involving student safety were handled during the early 1990s and the actions taken after concerns became known. Davis, 64, of Salisbury, was charged in Worcester County Circuit Court in 2023 with child abuse by a custodian related to allegations involving a former student during the 1991-1992 school year at
Stephen Decatur High School. The allegations became public following reporting in the Feb. 22, 2024 edition of the Bayside Gazette and after the implementation of Maryland’s Child Victims Act of 2023, which removed the statute of limitations for certain child sexual abuse cases. According to charging documents referenced in published reports, the alleged victim told investigators she had been involved in an inappropriate relationship with Davis while she was a student at Stephen Decatur High School. Court records cited in the reporting alleged that
sexual encounters occurred on school grounds, including within the school’s band area. The case has received increased public attention because of both the allegations themselves and statements regarding how the matter was handled at the time. According to charging documents cited in the 2024 Bayside Gazette article, Lou Taylor, who served as vice principal at Stephen Decatur High School during that period and was later promoted to superintendent of Worcester County Public Schools before retiring, told
See RENEWED SCRUTINY page 4
ROC Edition • Somerset County Schools Facebook
FORMER MUSIC TEACHER RONALD LEE DAVIS
Concerns raised over cable infrastructure disturbing historical African American cemetery By Santino Guido ROC Edition Editor Participating in an informational town hall meeting at Stephen Decatur High School, officials from Globalinx, a company that is proposing the construction of a cable landing station near Ocean City, were confronted with concerns that the company’s project may pose a threat to a historical African American cemetery. Part of a broader initiative to increase global connectivity, Globalinx’s 24,000 square-foot cable landing station would connect up
to four transatlantic internet cables, all owned by Amazon Web Services, to land-based networks, effectively turning a “wet cable” into a “dry cable,” according to a Globalinx representative. While being strategically located near the Ocean City Municipal Airport, the station’s prospective lot has recently come under scrutiny for being adjacent to a 19th-century African American cemetery associated with the Purnell family. Some worry that the facility’s proximity could disturb the site. Addressing Globalinx officials on See CABLE CONCERNS page 5
ROC Edition • Sherrie Clifford, Publisher
Proposed Globalinx cable project faces scrutiny over its proximity to the historic Purnell Family Cemetery.