The incident involved BoE Chairman Cathy Allen and Board Member Mary Washington, who earlier in the day had a verbal disagreement during the presentation for the "St. Mary’s Bridge to Excellence Resolution."

"I believe it was a misunderstanding," Allen told ST. MARY’S TODAY, "Mary [Washington] had some strong concerns over the memorandum of understanding we were reviewing with the [St. Mary’s] Commissioners earlier in the day, and it was a long, stressful day."

Allen said that the meeting had run late into the day, and that in the interest of time, and out of respect to the board members and the public, she asked if the BoE would object to skipping Board reports and giving them directly to the secretary for inclusion in the minutes. She said there was no dissent.

After the meeting was closed, Allen said that Washington approached her and expressed displeasure at not being given the opportunity to give her board report and went on to say that she was troubled by how the meeting went.

"She snapped her head away and said she did not want to talk about it," said Allen. At this point, Allen said Washington was going to walk away, and she reached out and put her hand on Washington’s shoulder to say "wait a minute," and get her attention.

"She took issue with it, and that’s her right to take issue with it," said Allen. "Having done the same thing a little earlier, I never thought she would have an issue with it."

Allen said she was disappointed by Washington’s reaction, and that she had never seen her act that way before. She said that she worries that something is going on in Washington’s life that is causing her additional stress.

"I was quite surprised when about 40 minutes later, she showed up with a deputy," said Allen.

Washington said that Allen’s account was inaccurate and did not reflect what went on.

"That is not what happened," she said, "She did not grab my shoulder, she grabbed my arm.

Washington said that after Allen grabbed her arm, she was shocked, and walked off to avoid a further confrontation.

"I went over to the secretary’s desk to fill out some paperwork and Cathy came over to me and said ‘If you don’t work with us, we won’t work with you,’" said Washington.

Washington said that Allen was upset over her comments during the presentation on the St. Mary’s Bridge to Excellence resolution, and continued to verbally accost her, which led to Washington feeling threatened and calling the police.

"The public has a right to know," said Washington, explaining that she felt it was necessary to ask the questions and to ensure that the measure was not going to be harmful to the School System.

"I am saddened by what happened," Washington said, "I regret that Mrs. Allen became extremely angry and chose to verbally and physically assault me."

Washington said that in spite of what happened, she wanted to put her focus back where it should be, serving the public.

"Considering we must work together, I would hope something positive can come out of this," said Washington, "And I am willing to forgive, forget, and forge a better relationship."

According to the St. Mary’s Sheriff Department, Deputy Keith Moritz responded to Washington’s call and arrived on the scene at 3:16 p.m. According to the report, he received conflicting accounts of what happened.

"According to the incident report there were two witnesses who stated that they saw no assault," said St. Mary’s Sheriff David Zylak (D.), who said that the investigation is closed.