[Watch the Interview here]
 

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Who posted Maryland state test results online? And why was the data then removed and redacted, making it harder for the public to see how schools are performing? As Project Baltimore has learned, no one is taking responsibility.
 

“This is absolutely a cover-up,” said Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute.
 

It’s now been two weeks since Project Baltimore first spoke with Kennedy, and in those two weeks, a lot has happened.
 

“I see this as an unfolding scandal where the superintendent is going to have to resign. It’s just a matter of when,” Kennedy told Project Baltimore.
 

In the latest development, the Maryland State Department of Education, under Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury, has doubled down. MSDE is, again, blaming its web vendor for a mistake that allowed the public to see state test results before they could be further redacted.
 

“It's a he said, she said,” Kennedy explained. “And unfortunately, the only people who are being left out are the parents and the taxpayers.”
 

On April 20, MSDE posted a three-page statement to its website. The statement was issued in response to Project Baltimore’s investigation that exposed how MSDE changed the way it reports student test scores to the public by redacting much of the data.
 

In the statement, MSDE blamed its web vendor, The Canton Group, for publishing “embargoed” data before it could be redacted to protect student privacy. MSDE’s statement said, “Mr. Papst gained access to the embargoed data that was prematurely posted by the MSDE web vendor.” But The Canton Group says that’s not true.
 

Last week, The Canton Group sent a statement to Fox45 News that read in part, “MSDE has initial, ultimate and total control over the posting of information.” The statement explained, “An individual with MSDE, under the direction of supervisors at MSDE, published the information in question on January 19, 2023, after a full approval process.”
 

“While somebody behind the scenes knows who did it, knows why they did it and when they did it. But we don't have any of those answers,” Kennedy told Project Baltimore. “And then blaming each other doesn't resolve the questions of why it was done when it was done and who did it.”
 

For nearly 20 years, The Canton Group has been the web vendor for the Maryland State Department of Education.
 

But MSDE isn’t backing down from its allegation.
 

Project Baltimore asked MSDE to respond to The Canton Group’s claim that it was not at fault.
 

MSDE sent an email saying, “The Department's original position and statements still hold true. Previous information that was released remains as stated.”
 

And when Project Baltimore took that response back to The Canton Group on Monday, it too doubled down, reiterating in a statement it “has handled all data and approvals appropriately, and Canton does not have physical access to post information on the MSDE website.”
 

What this means is no one is taking responsibility for publishing what MSDE calls embargoed data. But somebody put it online.
 

Last week, Project Baltimore tried to speak with the State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury about what’s going on, but he locked himself behind a door.
 

“There was clearly an ulterior motive here, and we need to know what the answer was there,” said Kennedy.
 

It’s vital, according to Kennedy, that taxpayers know the truth. Because in January, when Project Baltimore downloaded the original state test scores from MSDE’s website, enough data was available to report to the public that 23 Baltimore City Schools, and seven Baltimore County Schools, had zero students, among those tested, score proficient in math.
 

But now, much of that data is redacted. The state says it was done to protect student privacy. But some, including Kennedy, say the test results were replaced with asterisks to hide how poorly some schools are performing.
 

“There is no way out of this situation other than Choudhury leaving his post and doing so immediately,” Kennedy told Project Baltimore. “How do we ask students to be held accountable, teachers to be held accountable, when the leader of the state school system won't answer direct questions and take responsibility for his actions or the actions of his subordinates? It's ridiculous.”