Maryland State Board of Education President Joshua Michael, center, gives remarks during Tuesday’s meeting in Baltimore, where an emergency measure on students charged with serious crimes was approved. Photo by William J. Ford.
The Maryland State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an emergency rule requiring that school leaders be notified if a student charged with “serious criminal offenses” is about to enroll in their school.
School leaders were previously allowed, but not required, to share such information with other schools. Tuesday’s emergency action changed one word – from “may” to “shall” – in the policy on sharing records of students charged with “reportable offenses,” which include serious criminal offenses such as murder, arson and armed carjacking.
The change comes a week after Howard County Police arrested a 17-year-old student at Howard High School in connection with the Oct. 9 fatal shooting of Kendrick McLellan, 26, who was found dead inside a car in a Columbia office building parking lot on Oct. 12. A 14-year-old from Severn has also been arrested in connection with the killing.