The Howard County Board of Education voted Jan. 16 to adopt a set of positions on local bills before the Maryland General Assembly.

After committee discussion, the board approved the legislative committees recommendations for the packet and recorded separate motions on several bills. The board voted to support HOCO 3-25, enabling local public campaign financing for school board elections, and to oppose several other proposals the committee flagged for concern.

Votes at a glance

- HOCO 3-25, Public campaign financing (enabling legislation): Motion to support by Member Malo; second by Member Watts. Vote: 8–0 in favor. The boards support is for enabling county council action to create local public financing and does not obligate the county to a specific program design.

- HOCO 225, Proposed change to board terms and compensation (package): Motion by Member Watts to oppose; second by Member Abasiolu. Vote: 7–1 (Yes: Watts, Chen, McCoy, Abasiolu, Chamblee, Ricks, Mosley; No: Mallow). The boards formal position opposes decoupling term-cycle changes tied to compensation in the bill as drafted.

- HOCO 1525, Study on detecting deadly weapons in schools: Motion to oppose by Member Watts; second by Member Chamblee. Vote: 7–1 (Yes: Watts, Chen, McCoy, Abasiolu, Chamblee, Ricks, Mosley; No: Mallow). Several board members said the study would be resource-intensive and preferred targeted safety measures and funding rather than an unfunded statewide study.

- HOCO 1025, Mandated school holidays bill (amended): Motion to oppose by Member Watts; second by Member Chamblee. Vote: carried 5–2–1 (Yes: Watts, McCoy, Abasiolu, Mallow, Mosley; No: Chen, Chamblee; Abstain: Ricks). Several board members said they support calendar inclusions for holidays but opposed legislative mandates that would remove local board discretion.

- Committee recommendations (full packet): After individual motions, the board moved to adopt the legislative committees recommendations as presented. Motion to adopt the committee recommendations passed 8–0.

What the board said

Board members who supported HOCO 3-25 said enabling local public financing could lower barriers to running for school board. Members who opposed HOCO 225 expressed concern that splitting election cycles and pairing term changes with compensation language could reduce clarity and voter participation, and some members said the compensation study should be separate from term-cycle changes. Members opposing HOCO 1525 said the study would be expensive and might divert resources from more immediate safety investments; others preferred local evaluation of targeted safety measures. On HOCO 1025 (holidays), members balanced recognition of cultural and religious observances against preserving local calendar control.

Ending: The legislative packet and recorded votes were posted to board documents. Staff and the legislative committee will continue to monitor bill developments and amendments during the General Assembly session and will brief the board on any substantive changes.