Janice Walthour, vice president of the St. Mary's County branch of the NAACP, told the Board of County Commissioners at a public forum March 5 that the county should restore funding to community nonprofits and pursue data-driven plans to address income and educational disparities.

Walthour said the NAACP is asking the county to identify the root causes of disparities — including who is impacted and where — and to provide facts about race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, employment, poverty, hunger and homelessness. “Every person should have an equal opportunity to achieve economic success, sustainability, and financial security,” she said.

The request centers on restoring funding for organizations the speakers named as helping bridge gaps in the county, including Vital Community Connectors (referred to in testimony as a community connector program). Walthour told commissioners the group can provide service-area data and local information to help target interventions.

Walthour and other NAACP speakers also pressed for specific local actions: reopening the Lexington Park Library on Sundays to serve residents who use the facility for job searches, homework and literacy training; more pupil-service supports and connections to vocational programs at the College of Southern Maryland; and additional attention to Great Mills High School’s graduation and support services.

Sylvia Thompson Brown, who identified herself as a resident and NAACP education committee member, said the NAACP has worked with “Doctor Martirano, superintendent of schools, his staff, and the board of education” and described the county’s recent position on education spending. “There is a disparity in our county in spending for education. St. Mary's County is 23 out of 24 in spending for education,” she said, urging sustained local funding for programs that have relied on grants.

Speakers also raised criminal-justice and public-safety concerns. Walthour asked that, while the county moves forward on a detention center and related programs, designers ensure space and access for educational, rehabilitation and trades programs. The NAACP representatives also urged the county to adopt diversity hiring and promotion practices and to support civic and diversity-education programming in the community.

Walthour said the NAACP will request future time on the commissioners’ agenda to discuss these matters in more detail. Commissioner Jack Russell responded during the forum that county leaders had begun an economic-development strategy earlier the same day with some grant funding and said many of the subjects raised would be addressed in that strategy.

No formal votes or directives were recorded at the forum on the requests presented by the NAACP; speakers said they would seek a future agenda slot for more detailed discussion and data-sharing.

The NAACP speakers identified Andrea Bowman as the branch president (not present at the forum) and said the branch would continue to pursue meetings with county leadership and the school system.