BALTIMORE — The Maryland State Board of Education unanimously voted to adopt policy changes requiring school officials to share certain information from students’ criminal records with one another.

The policy, added Tuesday morning to Maryland State Board of Education’s agenda, comes after lawmakers raised concerns over communication pitfalls in the wake of two high school students being arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a teenager in Columbia.

The revised policy requires local superintendents to forward information about students charged or convicted of “reportable offenses” — certain serious offenses that happen outside school — to education officials in other school districts when the student transfers between schools. Previously, communication between different school districts was optional.

The policy change was brought to Tuesday’s state board meeting as an emergency regulation, meaning it takes effect before going through a public comment period.

Legislative approval is needed for the regulation to take effect, and the state school board has requested that it start Tuesday and run through April 20, 2025, spokesperson Raven Hill said. The state’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review can also adjust the dates when the regulation is in effect.

Bringing the change to the board on Tuesday morning, State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright said the department would “continue to review” laws and regulations “to ensure that our school leaders have the information they need to keep school buildings safe.”

The regulation being revised also requires for local superintendents to transmit information to school principals and security officers after being notified of an arrest on a “reportable offense,” which include murder, arson, armed carjacking, sexual offenses and other serious crimes. The policy also applies to offenses related to a “student’s membership in a criminal organization.”

“We must be as clear and transparent as possible between and across school systems when it comes to sharing information about transfer students who may pose a threat to school communities,” Wright said. She noted she would not speak about specific cases.

The regulation comes after a 17-year-old Howard High School student was charged with murder while he was being electronically monitored for an earlier attempted murder charge in Anne Arundel County.

Police said the teen was found with a “ghost gun” — a firearm assembled from pieces and without a serial number — in his backpack when he was arrested on school grounds for the killing of Kendrick McLellan, 26, who was found dead inside a car Oct. 9 in a Columbia office building parking lot. Howard County Public School officials said they were not made aware of the student’s previous attempted murder charges ahead of his most recent arrest.

_______

©2024 The Baltimore Sun. Visit at baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.