New law will require a thorough assessment of guns in public high and middle schools. #HB 782

 House Bill 782 requires a thorough assessment of guns in the state’s public high schools and middle schools, and report on the best way to detect the presence of guns in schools and the best way to report such information to police. The law will take effect just days after the first-degree murder conviction Friday of Jaylen Rushawn Prince, 16, in the shooting death of 15-year-old Warren Curtis Grant in a bathroom at Joppatowne High School on Sept. 6, 2024, according to news reports.

The bill, originally sponsored by Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard), calls on the Maryland Center for School Safety, a unit within the Maryland Department of Education, to meet with members of every local school system in the state and evaluate the security infrastructure currently in place. The center will also be required to evaluate “widely accepted” methods that are available but not currently used by school systems, analyze software that can be integrated with security cameras and study the use of metal detectors, even handheld devices, at school entrances.

The center will have to present an interim report to legislative leaders as well as to the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee by Dec. 1, 2025. A final report would be due by Dec. 1, 2026...

https://wtop.com/maryland/2025/05/sunday-marks-start-of-new-laws-in-md-including-of-rush-to-courthouse-for-child-sex-abuse-victims/

Maryland Center for School Safety publishes updated guidelines for active shooter drills

A Maryland law passed earlier this year requires the Maryland Center for School Safety to study the effectiveness and the mental health impacts of active shooter drills and trainings on students and staff.

Kim Buckheit, director of strategic initiatives at the Maryland Center for School Safety, explained that simulated sounds of gunfire or explosions, banging on classroom doors and having individuals posing as assailants or victims are banned under the guidelines for drills carried out during the school day: “All of those types of simulations are not allowed in Maryland.”

That decision comes as a result of legislation that highlighted concerns over the potential for generating trauma on the students and staff exposed to those training strategies...

Maryland Center for School Safety publishes updated guidelines for active shooter drills - WTOP News

Breaking: MCPS Chief Safety Officer Ed Clarke Removed from Position. Parents' Coalition had Exposed Failure to Report as Required by Law @mcps @mocoboe @pcmc1

In December of 2022, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD obtained documents from the Maryland Center for School Safety regarding MCPS' compliance with Maryland's serious school incident reporting requirements.  

The Parents' Coalition had filed a Maryland Public Information Act request and upon receipt of our request, we were contacted by the Center for School Safety for a telephone conference with their staff attorney Dawn Luedtke.  Dawn Luedtke is now a Montgomery County Councilmember.  

The documents we obtained showed that MCPS had not complied with Maryland law with regard to reporting serious incidents.  ABC7 reported on this revelation. 

MCPS gave the excuse that their Chief Safety Officer, Edward Clarke, was not aware of the filing requirements.  But Edward Clarke was formerly the head of the Maryand Center for School Safety and had lobbied for the creation of that office.  

Since the ABC7 news report aired in December, Edward Clarke has been removed from his position and placed in MCPS Human Relations Department with the position of Administrator Special Assignment. 

On June 27, 2023, the Montgomery County Board of Education appointed a new Chief Safety Officer, Pamela B. Wheeler-Taylor. 

Mother of Magruder shooting victim sues school, county

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/mother-of-magruder-shooting-victim-sues-school-county

Breaking: ‘Unaware’ of Changed Deadlines, MCPS Did Not Hold Reviews of Violent Incidents in Time

After-action reviews of stabbings at Montgomery Blair and Clarksburg high schools during the recently-completed school year were not conducted within the required 45 days.

The Maryland Center for School Safety must be notified of any “critical, life-threatening incident” that takes place in a public school within 24 hours after the school learns of the incident. MCPS did notify the state in the proper time...

...Edward Clarke, Montgomery County Public School Chief Safety Officer, who was the former director of the Maryland Center for School Safety, was unaware the timeline reporting requirements..

https://www.mymcmedia.org/unaware-of-changed-deadlines-mcps-did-not-hold-reviews-of-violent-incidents-in-time/?fbclid=IwAR2sflOaith6eN8K_-WkwKsS5Ror3GSw9ECB2Y1_nTV2l7MrG4fGtAKZwcY

New: Maryland Center for School Safety

The Maryland Center for School Safety was established as an independent unit of State Government in July 2013 (Chapter 372, Acts of 2013).
To provide a coordinated and comprehensive policy for school safety in Maryland, the Center collaborates with local school systems, law enforcement agencies, State and local government, community organizations, parents, and other groups. With those partners, the Center disseminates information on best practices, programs, and resources; provides technical assistance and training; collects, analyzes, and integrates Statewide data; and promotes interagency efforts to ensure safe schools.
The Center's Executive Director is appointed by the Governing Board (Code Education Article, secs. 7-1501 through 7-1505).

GOVERNING BOARD
Chair (chosen by Governor): Lillian M. Lowery, Ed.D., State Superintendent of Schools
Appointed by Governor: Valerie S. Carr; Lorig Charkoudian, Ph.D.; Theresa E. Detorie; Elizabeth Watson Ray.
Appointed by State Superintendent of Schools: Margaret Grady Kidder, Ph.D.
Appointed by Maryland Association of Boards of Education: Michael A. Durso
Appointed by Public School Superintendents' Association of Maryland: Henry V. Wagner, Jr., Ed.D.
Ex officio: Kisha A. Brown, designee of Attorney General; Rachel G. Faulkner, designee of Secretary of Disabilities; Lt. Col. Woodrow W. Jones, designee of Secretary of State Police.
Edward A. Clarke, Executive Director (301) 370-3497
e-mail: edward.clarke@mcac.md.gov
Staff: Robert A. Murphy.
c/o Division of Student, Family & School Support
State Dept. of Education
Nancy S. Grasmick State Education Building, 200 West Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21201 - 2595
(410) 767-0305
e-mail: rmurphy@msde.state.md.us