Calvert County advisory committee flags gaps in staffing, training, bullying, vaping and student supports

The Calvert County Student Safety and Well-Being Advisory Committee met in August for a working session and identified several gaps it says are hampering school safety and student well-being, including mental-health staffing shortages, uneven training, inconsistent application of the student code of conduct, a reported rise in vaping and limited, hard-to-navigate family resources.

The committee — which was preparing to brief the county commissioners “on the 20th,” a date members referenced during the meeting — spent the session reviewing subcommittee findings and asking staff for follow-up data and implementation details. The meeting emphasized short-term “quick wins” and longer-term policy recommendations meant to improve consistency across schools.

Committee members said the most urgent, recurring concerns center on three areas: staffing and training for staff who respond to student crises; inconsistent handling of conduct, bullying and vaping incidents across schools; and lack of an accessible, centralized resource and navigator capacity to connect families to services.

“Out of 15 psychologist positions, 9 of them are vacant,” Dr. Newsom, the interim superintendent, told the committee, identifying staffing shortages in student mental-health roles as a constraint on the system’s ability to respond to student needs. He urged the group to consider staffing, social media’s role in student behavior and how to target supports for families with chronic needs.

Subcommitt…