[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6458587,"mediaKeyId","5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802","parentId",5811967,"title","Community member warns board restorative-justice policies reduce school discipline, cites state legislation","audioSeconds",178,"startMs",5026000,"endMs",5204000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802&start=5026&end=5204","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802/thumbnail_5026000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6458587/Maryland/Community-member-warns-board-restorative-justice-policies-reduce-school-discipline-cites-state-legislation","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6458587-c379c280be38dc1a7e1f5e5392cc01af/orig.mp4?Expires=1770519405&Signature=L9GCYc-LM3tcMfc9W47AZej33nMcPoEOASBPyM3C9XTwlYVUUu37z2-aDbQQuoxRJwvz59I42zMeNhTRz4KcTLK5spSrkNSPD0It-cnv7g-8X5QpKWW9FgdbLPwwNjwzPszFRNUJY3W9yJXyQvzBiDzowluEF9~X~Re5kcgwKWnlfBaAnnXwcej6Zf6Er2qTnzZOb-0ZLQx-O02n4bl5IoDGit0qV1mNoE1S-OPtCPFnBWMWOT-vOm8XkFsRboUAG-5bM1-TD4u0ZxqMNoHAZf0K7SRWozey8DCYZrELEjRINQ1YUgYGNigBHrclMiE5tmSIrxhene1BuoF4~8Wuaw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Charles County Public Schools","date","2025-09-23T00:01:58.333Z","article","A member of the public told the Charles County school board he is concerned district restorative-justice practices and recent state policy changes have reduced the district’s ability to discipline and remove dangerous students from school.

Douglas Paul addressed the board during the public forum and said the district \"prioritizes restorative justice over traditional discipline\" and that he believes that approach, combined with a 2022 state bill that he said limited law-enforcement capabilities in schools, has left schools vulnerable. \"It is not about the small percentage,\" Paul said, arguing the consequences of a violent incident could affect many students.

Paul recounted an example he said he had been told about: a student who allegedly threatened classmates and returned to class carrying a backpack the next day; Paul said teachers' reports about misconduct sometimes meet resistance and that staff lack \"anonymous protections for teachers\" when reporting incidents.

Paul urged parents to research district policy and take steps to protect their children. He also noted recent Maryland legislation that, he said, allows school boards to be sued and argued parents should not rely on the board to change course.

The board did not respond during the public forum; district staff are permitted to follow up with speakers when appropriate.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board Work Session - September 22, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","A community speaker told the board he believes district restorative-justice approaches and a 2022 state bill limiting some school law-enforcement responses have weakened school safety; he urged parents to research policies and protect their children.","taxTitle","Charles County Public Schools, School Boards, Maryland","taxId",14205,"location","Maryland","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6458591,"Board approves intercategory budget transfers after district explains Oracle-related carryovers",3930,6035000,9965000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802&start=6035&end=9965","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802/thumbnail_6035000.jpg","/articles/6458591/Maryland/Board-approves-intercategory-budget-transfers-after-district-explains-Oracle-related-carryovers","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6458591-a2ff25e1abb1cad853d8d55800fddf29/orig.mp4?Expires=1770519405&Signature=Uu1iBeYjtKBMp137kICAKv1hwm7Vc9IzKLifiYR6GzzbV~Bd4GhuWBG3xN8E6kPVf9rxmyCxAOITDXofFoAcLaNoHPf7LrfVb5-EBOc-CiscIQwxNv2rebIOp8IomepuLqaVYpRs4amXTb96ZVUBXQONzW9tjJuYdO4rKdYm6-UVORrnDIk0vxO5aPW2uC~wRktSIGOAUcDIW1bELr7igW-rYjc1qMrhIgHOEr~yCReRq9p6MqriHAhKrGYwe2GCWJqzCDomzsNEFbzgPifl93ZgYxMLCgv3kPMVxEwd~-NsYQMqUeOUDq5Tymp~Ar-DVhERcmsJpagoapzhKiLtEA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Board members voted unanimously to approve two intercategory budget transfer requests after district finance staff outlined a revised FY2026 carryforward request and explained why some FY2025 commitments must be reentered under the district’s new Oracle Cloud purchase‑order procedures.

District finance chief Karen Acton told the board the original FY2026 request presented in September was $12.5 million; county guidance then narrowed the ask to $5.8 million for projects that meet the county’s definition of carryover (unfinished projects or one‑time funding). Acton said the revision reflects Oracle’s rule that purchase orders open and not fully liquidated on June 30 are canceled in the prior fiscal year and must be reentered in the current year unless they meet the county’s carryforward guidance.

Acton outlined the largest categories driving the $5.8 million revised request: roughly $5.2 million in open purchase orders (ERP/Oracle‑related change orders, payroll and Redwood upgrades, an Oracle interface and an unfinished server/network upgrade), $569,279 in committed community schools funds and $65,351 for a workforce development blueprint balance. She also listed instructional-supply and maintenance purchase orders, library purchases and unfinished capital projects that would be carried forward.

Why it matters: Acton said the district’s unaudited FY2025 fund balance reflected an approximately $20 million use of unassigned fund balance during FY2025 and warned that continuing to rely on fund balance could exhaust reserves. \"We have spent about $20,000,000 of our unassigned fund balance in fiscal year 2025,\" Acton said. She and board members discussed the need to order and receive goods earlier in the fiscal year to avoid future carryovers under Oracle’s rules.

FY2025 intercategory adjustments: Separately, the board approved a FY2025 intercategory transfer that reallocated roughly $3.2 million among operating categories. Acton said the adjustments were primarily payroll timing and reclassifications among administration, transportation and plant operations rather than overspending in those categories.

Board action: The board approved the FY2025 transfer and the FY2026 amended request in separate motions. Vice Chair Kramer moved the FY2025 motion (seconded by Board Member Tamisha Thomas); both votes were recorded as unanimous. The FY2026 transfer was moved by Board Member Butler Washington, seconded by Thomas, and also carried unanimously. Acton and Chief Financial Officer Sherry Fisher‑Diaz answered members’ questions on payroll accounting, potential options for reallocating unspent monies and the county’s expectation that the district eliminate end‑of‑year encumbrances that do not meet the county’s criteria.

Next steps and constraints: Finance staff told the board they will retrain principals and department leads to plan purchases earlier in the fiscal year and that some end‑of‑year purchase orders may need to roll into the next fiscal year’s budget if goods are not received by June 30. Board members asked about options for reallocating unused school funds; district staff said they will continue to monitor outstanding encumbrances and may present options for targeted reallocation in future budget briefings.

","The board approved two intercategory budget transfers — fiscal year 2025 adjustments and a revised FY2026 carryforward request — after district finance staff said Oracle Cloud procurement processing required some open purchase orders and committed blueprint funds to be carried into the next fiscal year.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6458597,"AVID program expands in Charles County, district links course to school goals",1883,8067000,9950000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802&start=8067&end=9950","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802/thumbnail_8067000.jpg","/articles/6458597/Maryland/AVID-program-expands-in-Charles-County-district-links-course-to-school-goals","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6458597-de8a92657d585a4bc0de70db38193b70/orig.mp4?Expires=1770519405&Signature=NABsvfw-5kJtBIeGZu5eRCsCkZ1K6XkespM7FAgmifiQU6GUYCeLWjMqr7QfaKew091TM1HmdH--YON1M1QLxwe6EK3xf1tPg4ldmXf9Ym9TkI4JXgpIWL6ep09KVm~MfPGbXxNR0VQu0FXFRxbZIj0Ya2vjwR77vae52MRIkCX69rRNBH6VXCYjWTzJ8DXJ9Ux0vRmX6FCGZ266NE40CnDfh53i4dTe5C8jbknpdGSJrufwYrpwXR~PVRXKc2jGNbiz2a9Fvb3FDtabXetfj7Tz4ZNlSK5Ju6fG1kmtbvl3l2HrWjViz2IY5iKQpR~xw0s8KzmsdxyIXmJObIfw2w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Charles County Public Schools officials described expansion of AVID — the Advancement Via Individual Determination program — and said the district is using the program to build student organization, note-taking and college/career readiness skills in participating elementary, middle and high schools.

Teresa Peck, instructional program support specialist, told the board AVID Elementary launched this school year in fifth grade at Indian Head Elementary and that five county middle schools and five county high schools offer AVID secondary electives. Peck said the program emphasizes organizational routines, focused note taking and structured student inquiry, and staff have linked AVID strategies to their school improvement plans.

\"AVID is not 1 more thing to do; it's within alignment of everything we're already doing,\" Peck said. She described a summer AVID boot camp that drew more than 100 students and ongoing professional learning modules for teachers.

Why it matters: District staff said AVID fosters habits that can support underrepresented students in pursuing higher‑level coursework and postsecondary options. Peck highlighted two outcome measures schools are tracking: 77 percent of AVID sixth-graders were enrolled in an honors or high-school credit-bearing course (non-math), and 11 percent of ninth-grade AVID students were enrolled in at least one AP or PLTW course, figures Peck presented as signs of rising course rigor among AVID participants.

Casey Cleary, a mathematics teacher who presented classroom-level practice, described how her school distributes AVID binders and agendas to students and integrates the program’s \"WICOR\" teaching strategies (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, Reading) into daily lessons. She said the elective class gives selected students extra time and coaching on study skills, public speaking and research.

District strategy and next steps: District leaders said they are coaching site coordinators, encouraging principals to include AVID goals in school improvement planning, and expanding training so teacher leaders can lead AVID work during collaborative planning time. Peck said the district will pursue higher certification levels for schools that meet AVID’s implementation standards, and middle schools in the pilot feeder patterns will align AVID entry points so students can continue from elementary to middle to high school.

Board members praised the presentation and asked how the district supports recruitment, parent outreach and data collection to measure longer-term postsecondary outcomes. Peck said recruitment is handled at the school level (teacher recommendation, student application and family information nights), and that AVID-certified high schools collect senior data to track graduates’ postsecondary enrollment where possible.

","District and school leaders described growth of AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) in Charles County schools, including a first-year elementary pilot, weekly secondary electives and evidence the program is contributing to enrollment in honors and credit-bearing courses at several schools.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6458601,"Charles County schools formalize collaborative planning, principals report early gains",4954,4000,4958000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802&start=4&end=4958","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5811967-77c266f8434e3fb78e5f3bd66db5a802/thumbnail_4000.jpg","/articles/6458601/Maryland/Charles-County-schools-formalize-collaborative-planning-principals-report-early-gains","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6458601-b12115f5ff8b7063bca0d954363ef2a6/orig.mp4?Expires=1770519405&Signature=Cni3ju~B5XmO83Etrns-l9k0lOlko~0PMP0qfb~NSQfDQRlI4jQnK~gavW09dXYRcSwW2kYGYY~4mw1I0lpuwX89oA4Caxs8aTGdgSvGkRV~HBvTW2te3bASk-y028ZcrYD-BbK~rP3XVuCXJXITaxodZIYuEllwMta3R9vSCW9khhrn-eUa91rYeITDC4NsLbxNlgN8o4AI0nuYiOzBxg-Xxcl5vedQa3kfFtU19Z9R6-Lg3Wq~jSvzE87KDhlEdtyULo1HC5e6JZcrXZDOD6tStsjmfbd78Aj-OvSjAltLnAwFSBwXct6t15Dbp5hkjNtZDXrLOrpvL6Bt9UaoQA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Charles County Public Schools leaders and principals described a systemwide rollout of structured collaborative planning and professional learning teams (PLTs) at a board meeting, saying the work is intended to improve instruction and student outcomes by protecting teacher planning time and aligning lessons to district goals.

District staff said the initiative asks elementary schools to schedule weekly collaborative planning (recommended 30 minutes for math and 30 minutes for reading), middle schools to plan 30 minutes a day in core subjects and high schools to schedule about 30 minutes per week, with principals responsible for protecting that time. \"It's a time, a scheduled time during the day when a group of teachers get together,\" Kevin Lowndes said. \"The purpose of collaborative planning is really to improve our student outcomes.\"

Why it matters: The district framed collaborative planning as a way to pair newer teachers with experienced colleagues, sharpen standards-based lesson design, and use short cycles of data analysis to identify reteaching needs. Principals and teachers who presented said the protected time has led to steadier lesson design, more peer feedback and—at some schools—measurable improvements on interim and state assessments.

At JP Ryan Elementary, Principal Martin Adams and his fourth-grade team described a multi-year effort that used a teacher-leader role to scale planning practices across grades. Assistant Principal Keya Hawkins presented I-Ready growth data for last year’s fourth-grade cohort and reported changes in MCAP performance: \"We were able to decrease by 24 percent of students who were performing at the beginning level on MCAP in math, as well as decrease by 9 percent the students who are performing at the beginning level in reading,\" Hawkins said. She also reported a 4 percent gain in reading and a 3 percent gain in math for the cohort; Adams said consistent planning time coincided with a drop in disciplinary referrals — \"we ended a year almost 200 referrals less than we were the year before,\" he said — and improved attendance.

At Theodore Davis Middle School, Principal Robert Griffiths told the board his school moved to daily collaborative meetings for grade-level and content teams. Griffiths said teams complete a short facilitator form after each session to capture the meeting purpose, participants and next steps. \"We had to make a plan so that we were doing it daily. Everybody needs a planning partner,\" he said, adding that the school is using shared “evidence of learning” tasks to drive reteach decisions based on daily data.

Presenters also described how specialty teachers and support staff are included when possible. At JP Ryan, teachers said they invite ESOL and special education staff to planning sessions to co‑plan modifications and supports; the teachers said that approach helped them design kinesthetic, visual and scaffolding supports for diverse learners.

District staff acknowledged schedule and time constraints remain the biggest implementation challenge. Presenters described several practical workarounds: using special-area classes (art, music, PE) and staggered schedules to create common planning windows, running after‑school sessions for deeper planning, and piloting an \"adult learning space\" or \"collab lab\" to centralize resources and agendas.

District training and coaching: Melissa Mysiewicz (instructional professional learning) and Theresa Peck (instructional program support) described training modules, planning templates and facilitation coaching rolled out over the summer. Mysiewicz said collaborative planning teams select one focused purpose per meeting (data inquiry, examining student work, lesson planning or professional learning) and use structured prompts and checklists to stay on task.

Next steps: Presenters said the district will continue to expand training, monitor alignment to curriculum maps and school improvement plans, and collect evidence of fidelity through teacher-completed meeting logs and periodic coaching visits. Several board members asked for more detail about how schools will track the work over time, and administrators said they will bring implementation data to future briefings.

Taken together, district leaders and school teams told the board they view collaborative planning as a long-term instructional strategy rather than a short-term program, and they tied the approach to both academic goals and teacher retention efforts.

","District leaders and school teams described a systemwide push to protect time for teacher collaborative planning across elementary, middle and high schools and linked the work to modest improvements in benchmark and state test results at some pilot schools.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Community member warns board restorative-justice policies reduce school discipline, cites state legislation

Board approves intercategory budget transfers after district explains Oracle-related carryovers

AVID program expands in Charles County, district links course to school goals

Charles County schools formalize collaborative planning, principals report early gains