Parents, teachers and advocates press board for stronger discipline, supports and neurodiversity training; group urges more accessible public comment rules

Several members of the public used the board’s 30-minute public-comment period on May 20 to press Washington County Public Schools for expanded training, stronger discipline and better behavioral supports for students, and to ask the board to keep its public-comment process accessible to working residents.

Pia Shelzel, who identified herself as Miss Western Maryland, urged the board to adopt “neurodiversity training with periodic retraining” for educators, saying the training should equip teachers with classroom strategies, assessment accommodations and real-world student stories to help educators “recognize, accommodate, and celebrate learning differences.”

Katie Weber, a Hancock Elementary parent, described multiple incidents in her child’s kindergarten classroom she said were not handled adequately by school administration, including a reported threat to “shoot her in the head,” physical contact and a separate threat to “cut off” students’ heads. Weber said she was not notified in a timely manner, that the school resource officer was not notified until she called him, and that the student who made threats was returned to class after one day. She said she removed her daughter from school until a safety plan acceptable to the family was put in place.

Carol Mallon, president of the Washington County Teachers Association, told the board that WCTA’s concerns include building conditions, staffing for transportation and custodial services, timely HR processing, and mental-health and behavioral supports. Mallon urged that the system invest in back-office capacity so schools can deliver appropriate classroom supports and reduce operational disruptions.

Roger Stenerson of the grassroots group Rising to Learn asked the board to reconsider policy changes that shift meeting start times and public-comment timing, saying a survey his group conducted found strong respondent preference for evening meeting times and for public comment to occur at the start of meetings. Stenerson also said Rising to Learn was concerned about elimination of the supervisor of equity and excellence.

Board members thanked speakers and acknowledged the concerns. One board member said, “We need compassion and discipline,” echoed the call for stronger consequences in some cases, and said the board and staff would continue to work on school safety and behavior supports. The board did not take immediate policy action during the meeting but heard several requests for programmatic changes and additional training.