Delegate Edith Patterson convened the Southern Maryland delegation on a February morning in 2025 to hear updates from local school leaders and the College of Southern Maryland on student programs and education funding.

The superintendents said they are closely tracking the governor's Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act (Senate Bill 429 / House Bill 504) and a draft of curative language filed as Senate Bill 852, and warned that some provisions would redirect money intended by the state's blueprint law from local school systems to state-level initiatives.

"There are parts of this bill that redirect some of that funding to go to [the Maryland State Department of Education] for different initiatives," said Dr. Maria Navarro, superintendent of Charles County Public Schools. "Our concerns . . . lie that it will likely pull staffing and resources away from the schoolhouse." Navarro said Charles County is beginning a new strategic-plan process and flagged expanded pre-K and increased Advanced Placement participation as local priorities.

Dr. Smith, superintendent of St. Mary's County Public Schools, told the delegation that Maryland's public schools overall have made "incremental progress" since COVID and cited stronger local assessment and college-prep test results. Smith said a statewide analysis performed by the Maryland State Education Association estimates cumulative funding reductions tied to the proposal could be large: "for Charles County, I think it's about $185,000,000; for St. Mary's, it's $105,000,000; and for Calvert, I think it's about $85,000,000," she said, describing those figures as projected impacts through 2033.

Jacqueline Jacobs, Calvert County chief academic officer, said Calvert is also expanding pre-K and implementing a new multi-tiered system of support in classrooms, but expressed concern about uncertainty tied to retirement costs and the Time to Care Act. "We are really worried about the funding piece of everything and our ability to meet those requirements because the funding's not there," Jacobs said.

Delegates and superintendents also discussed local policies that have shown classroom effects: St. Mary's and Calvert counties implemented comprehensive student cell-phone policies this year. "The cell phones policy that we've implemented this year in St. Mary's County has definitely afforded teachers the opportunity to target their time and avoid distractions," Dr. Smith said.

The delegation invited review of Senate Bill 852, which Navarro described as language crafted by all 24 Maryland superintendents to strengthen the blueprint's core reforms now that it has been in effect for three years. Delegation chair Delegate Patterson said members would "look at that and maybe come back in terms of our positions regarding those two initiatives." No formal vote or endorsement was recorded during the meeting.

The delegation also received a short request from Ruthie Davis seeking the delegation's authorization to sign a letter of support for House Bill 772, which would formalize career counseling partnerships between county boards of education and local workforce development boards. Delegates were asked to email authorizations; the meeting did not record a formal vote.

College of Southern Maryland (CSM) representatives described expansion of early college and dual-enrollment pathways and said the programs help students save time and money while improving college persistence. "We've almost tripled" early college enrollment at CSM, a presenter said, noting completion and transfer statistics and plans to expand teacher-preparation and health-science pathways.

CSM cautioned, however, that higher-education funding changes could reduce local college resources: "With the new CADE funding recalculation . . . there could be a $1,600,000 hit for CSM," Dr. Wilson said, and college leaders asked legislators to consider a hold-harmless provision as enrollment has risen.

What happened next

Delegates said they would review the bills and the superintendents' recommendations and coordinate where possible on cell-phone policy language and other items. No formal votes or directives were adopted at the meeting; superintendents and CSM staff offered to provide further detail to delegation members as the legislative session proceeds.

Why it matters

Superintendents warned that changes to how Maryland's blueprint law is funded could shift personnel and resources away from schools at a time when districts report rising enrollment in pre-K and expanded early-college participation. Delegation consideration of the bills could shape whether funding stays routed to local school systems or is allocated to centralized state initiatives.