HB 720 repeals the expiration date for the Douglas J. J. Peters Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts Scholarship, removing the current cutoff of June 30, 2030, for awarding new scholarships and eliminating restrictions on renewing scholarships for recipients who received their initial award before that date. This change directly affects eligible veterans, active service members, or their dependents (spouses, children) who served in the Afghanistan or Iraq conflicts and meet Maryland residency and enrollment requirements at participating institutions. The bill maintains all existing provisions, including the 50% tuition coverage limit, 2.5 GPA requirement, and 5-year full-time renewal period. It ensures the scholarship program continues indefinitely without time-based restrictions on new awards or renewals.
HB 106 grants collective bargaining rights to nontenure track faculty at Maryland's public higher education institutions, specifically at the University System of Maryland, Morgan State University, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland. It creates a separate bargaining unit for these faculty members - including full-time, part-time, and adjunct employees with academic responsibilities like teachers and researchers - who were previously excluded from collective bargaining under state law. The bill amends existing statutes to explicitly include nontenure track faculty in bargaining units, allowing them to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions through union representation. This change takes effect July 1, 2026.
HB 326 requires the Maryland Center for School Safety to develop and operate an anonymous reporting system for school safety concerns. This system allows students, staff, and others to report safety issues without revealing their identity. Local school systems must participate in the system (with one specified exception), and the Center must create operational guidelines, provide training, and protect the confidentiality of all related information. The bill also mandates that custodians of records deny public inspection of materials connected to the anonymous reporting system.
HB 534 prohibits nonpublic schools participating in Maryland’s state-funded education programs from withholding transcripts or taking punitive actions against students (or their parents/guardians) due to unpaid debts owed to the school. Specifically, it bans schools from refusing to issue transcripts, conditioning transcript access on debt payment, charging extra fees for transcripts related to debt, or using transcripts as a debt collection tool. The law directly affects students and families at participating nonpublic schools, ensuring transcript access remains separate from financial obligations. It defines "debt" to exclude standard transcript fees, clarifying that schools cannot charge additional costs for transcripts tied to unpaid balances. This policy change ensures transcript access is not withheld as a financial penalty.
SB 142 expands tuition and training assistance for Maryland National Guard members. It broadens eligible institutions to include private vocational/trade schools with 50% tuition waivers and adds covered expenses like tools, uniforms, certification fees, and digital resources. Active Guard members (enlisted or commissioned) attending approved institutions can receive 100% coverage for tuition and qualifying training costs, provided they commit to 2-4 years of continued service after course completion. The bill applies to undergraduate, graduate, vocational, and trade courses, with specific provisions if a member's unit disbands.
SB 402 requires licensed residential child care programs in Maryland to ensure children aged 5-16 receive appropriate education, including enrolling them in local schools (unless the program has an approved educational plan), transferring academic records promptly, meeting with teachers, and providing study time and homework assistance. It also establishes new certification standards for child and youth care practitioners, mandating approved training covering child development, special needs, and diverse learning styles, along with background checks and minimum age/education requirements. The bill directly affects residential care program operators and their staff, replacing existing licensing rules in Maryland's Education and Health Occupations codes. Key changes include standardized educational support for children in care and mandatory practitioner training to improve service quality.
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HB 76 allows Maryland school systems to reallocate unspent school safety grant funds to other schools within the same system that still have unmet safety needs during the same fiscal year. It modifies existing grant rules to let districts that fully used their initial allocation (based on school count) redirect funds to schools requiring additional safety resources, such as resource officers or law enforcement coverage. The bill does not create new funding but adjusts how the existing $10 million annual grant pool is distributed. It directly affects local school systems and law enforcement agencies receiving these safety grants. The change takes effect July 1, 2026.
SB 307 requires Maryland county school boards to provide free tampons and pads in women’s restrooms at all public schools. Schools must install dispensers in at least two women’s restrooms by October 2022 (for middle/high schools) and all women’s restrooms by August 2025, with elementary schools needing at least one dispenser by October 2022. Boards must regularly restock products and can seek reimbursement from the state for installation costs, using a $500,000 fiscal year 2023 appropriation. This bill directly affects public school districts and students in Maryland’s public schools.
SB 339 changes the composition of the Maryland School for the Deaf's Board of Trustees. It reduces the total number of trustees from 19 to 13 and increases the required number of deaf trustees from 6 to 7. The bill also adds a requirement that each geographic region of Maryland must be represented by at least one board member. These changes, effective July 1, 2026, aim to better reflect the deaf community and geographic diversity in the school's governance.
HB 486 designates November 14 each year as "Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day" to honor Ruby Bridges' 1960 integration of an all-white school, and the second Wednesday in October as "Maryland School Pedestrian Awareness Day" to promote safe walking routes to schools. The Maryland State Department of Education must provide free, age-appropriate resources to all public schools, including civil rights lesson plans for Ruby Bridges Day and pedestrian safety materials like lesson plans and walk audit guides for Pedestrian Awareness Day. The bill directly affects Maryland public school systems by requiring state-provided educational tools for these designated days, starting July 1, 2026. It focuses on commemoration and safety education without mandating specific school activities.
