State Board of Education Emergency Regulation

Hello MFRW Officers, Chairs, Club Presidents and Interested Others,

MFRW opposed HB 161 (County Boards of Education - Curriculum Guides and Courses of Study - Discrepancies) that became effective July 1, 2025. (Original title was Comprehensive Health Education Framework -Established).  

I want to bring you an update on two education issues that may be related.

1) Comprehensive Health Education Standards Framework and Validation Committee (SFVC).  While the SFVC completed its work at the end of May, the report and recommendations for updates/changes/additions have not been made public or appeared on the State Board of Education's Meeting agenda.

2) Emergency Regulation: On June 24, 2025, the Maryland State Board of Education approved an Emergency Regulation and forwarded it to the AELR (Administrative, Executive, Legislative Review Committee). It is DLS Control No. 25-157 State Board of Education: State School Administration: State Superintendent of Schools:  COMAR 13A.01.02.01.   It became effective on July 23, 2025 and will remain in effect for 180 days. (See attachment).

The Emergency Regulation was brought to my attention by an MFRW member who saw a Facebook post.  There is no publication requirement for Emergency Regulations when they are submitted to the AELR - just listing on the MGALEG.maryland.gov website under the "Committees" menu.  (choose: Committees; Other; Joint Committee AELR; Analyses/Regulations; Department; Emergency or proposed). 

The Emergency amendment removes the 60-day limit on a stay that the State Superintendent can place on any action of a local Board of Education if the action has been appealed to either the local Board or the State Board. Under the Emergency Regulation, the stay can remain in place until a final decision on the appeal is made by the State Board.

You can watch the discussion and the vote on the Emergency Regulation on the

video of the June 24 State Board Meeting.  It is at 7 hours and 1 minute mark on the video.  Summarizing: just before the decision the State Board President Michael indicated that "Local Control" of the public schools is a "tradition" and is dependent on maintaining the trust and upholding the standards of the state board and that the tradition could change.  He followed up with: The law states that there is a state system of public schools and LEAs are agencies of the State.  He said he just wanted to make that clear.  No examples were provided for why this Emergency Regulation was needed or why this is a very sensitive issue, but obviously it must be something that will surface very soon.

Wishing you a wonderful, relaxing August.

Sincerely,

Ella
Ella Ennis
Legislative Chairman
Maryland Federation of Republican Women