Maryland Governor Wes Moore orders a review of student crime information sharing

Maryland's governor is weighing in after the state school board mandated how students' criminal histories should be shared.

Wes Moore directed the Department of Juvenile Services this week to conduct an interagency review of how information is shared about Maryland public school students who have been accused of or convicted of violent crimes, according to a news release Friday.

The state board decided Tuesday that school leaders must be notified if new students commit serious crimes while attending their former schools in Maryland. Before the emergency vote, the ordinance required law enforcement to notify school systems of the arrest of one of their students for certain crimes. It allowed, but did not require, one school system to notify another school system of the offenses if that student transferred. The change means this is now mandatory.

The rule change comes after a convicted Howard High School student was charged with first-degree murder. Howard County Superintendent Bill Barnes said at a news conference last week that the 17-year-old transferred from a neighboring school district and that Howard had “no record” of the nature of his offenses.

The 17-year-old was under the supervision of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and was wearing an ankle monitor for a previous incident in another jurisdiction, police said. Barnes said last week that school staff knew he was receiving support from the Department of Child Services but did not know further details until a bail hearing last week.

According to the hearing, the student had previously shot someone who was now paralyzed. If the school system had known, Barnes said last week, the 17-year-old would not have been admitted to Howard High.

That led to state lawmakers sending a letter to State Superintendent Carey Wright on Monday. The letter asked, among other things, the Department of Education to direct all 24 public school systems to transfer records of students with reportable offenses who changed school districts or were transferred in the last year.

Wright told the media on Tuesday that the update to the regulations met all of the lawmakers' requests.

Barnes announced at a school board meeting Thursday that cases of approximately 48 currently enrolled Howard County students with DJS contact will be reviewed by school staff, according to WJZ, and that a student's family will be interviewed, among other things, if a reportable crime is noted.

The press release from Moore's office said an initial review was conducted involving the state Department of Education, the Attorney General's Office and the Maryland Center for School Safety. That review led to a regulation change that the state school board approved Tuesday.

The rule, which requires approval from the state legislature before taking effect, applies to students transferring from one public or nonpublic school (an independent, publicly funded school for high-needs students) in Maryland to another and is not directed at students who come to Maryland public schools from independent education programs, state programs, private schools or others.

It only affects students arrested for a “reportable crime,” including murder, arson, armed carjacking and sexual offenses.

The procedures reviewed are not intended to punish students who advocate for justice, the release said, but are intended to help provide information that may impact safety in school communities.

The ongoing review will inform the work of the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging Best Practices, a statewide commission to review and report on juvenile justice services, facilities and programs in Maryland, according to the release. The first meeting of the commission will take place “in the coming weeks”.

“The actions we are taking today will help us make Maryland safer as we continue to work with all segments of society to meet the needs of our schools,” Moore said in the release. “And I will study this interagency review closely once it is completed.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner's Education Hub, community-funded journalism that gives parents the resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.