The Maryland Department of Education is soliciting bids from auditing firms to investigate allegations of widespread grade ma­nipu­la­tion at Prince George’s County public schools, schools chief Kevin Maxwell said Thursday.

Maxwell repeatedly denied that his administration had inflated graduation rates in remarks he made during a two-hour meeting with the state lawmakers who represent Prince George’s in Annapolis. But the superintendent said he welcomes the review to “put this matter behind us.”

“We should go ahead and give people what they need, which is the assurance that there is nothing related to systemic corruption going on,” he said.

The sometimes heated meeting was the first chance for state lawmakers to directly confront Maxwell and his staff about numerous school issues, including allegations of child abuse and neglect in the Head Start preschool program, a sharp increase in the number of teachers placed on leave after being accused of wrongdoing, the discovery of lead in school water pipes and alleged grade manipulation.

The lawmakers and school officials squabbled for weeks over scheduling the session, which grew heated at times as different delegates sided either with Maxwell and the schools administration or with the small group of elected school board members that has levied the most criticism.

The board members wrote a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in May alleging that they had evidence that senior school officials were pressuring subordinates to change grades and promote students who had not met graduation requirements.

The state education agency issued an emergency solicitation on July 10 asking for contract proposals to conduct an independent performance audit. The bidding will close on July 25, and the audit is expected to take about six months.

Maxwell has vehemently denied any systemwide effort to graduate students who have not earned it.

On Thursday, Jay Walker (D-Prince George’s), chairman of the county’s delegation in Annapolis, told Maxwell that he had been shown grade-change forms from different schools that were signed exclusively by principals and not teachers.

In one case, he said, he saw documents that changed two failing grades to an “A” for a student without any supporting documents. In another case, he viewed forms showing a student who had been absent for more than 40 days but was allowed to graduate.

“You’re okay with that?” he asked Maxwell.

“There are a lot of reasons why kids aren’t in school, from medical issues, sometimes to legal issues, or domestic issues, homelessness,” Maxwell said.

Walker cut him short. “But these are normally extenuating circumstances and not the norm,” the lawmaker said. “So if it does turn out this is happening on a pretty regular basis . . . grade changes without any documentation or work being done, if that is the norm . . . is that acceptable? That’s the question I’m asking.”

“You have to look at the individual circumstances for every student,” Maxwell said.

Del. Darryl Barnes (D-Prince George’s) asked Maxwell if he had contacted school board member Edward Burroughs, who is a frequent critic of the schools chief and has been the leader of the group behind the graduation allegations, or the other board members to discuss their concerns.

“I have not sat down to speak with Mr. Burroughs . . . and he does not seem to want to speak to the administration,” Maxwell said. “Mr. Burroughs, for some reason, tends to like to communicate with other people about his concerns and not directly with us.”

Barnes was incredulous. “You have not reached out to say, ‘Let’s sit down and talk about it’?” he repeated.

Del. Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s), whose wife is one of Maxwell’s top deputies, directed his outrage at Burroughs and his board allies, accusing them of grandstanding and seeking media attention instead of trying to work with school officials to address problems.

“I’m embarrassed,” Davis said. “We have this minstrel show going. . . . This incessant need to appear on Fox 5 or in The Washington Post has to stop.”

He called on those involved to act more professionally.

In an interview, Burroughs, who did not attend the meeting, said, “The only way to clean up and prevent wrongdoing is to expose it.

“I am not willing to turn a blind eye or deaf ear to the concerns,” he said.