Charles County BOE reviews school climate data, weapons incidents and behavioral-health efforts

Charles County Public Schools staff told the Board of Education on April 28 that 81% of students had no recorded disciplinary violations in the current school year, but officials flagged increases in some serious incident categories — notably controlled-substance incidents and weapons violations.

The presentation, led by Dr. Marvin Jones with contributions from Dr. Blanchard, director of student services, framed the update as a three‑year look at quantitative and qualitative measures of school climate. “Students are not giving us a hard time,” Jones said. “They’re having a hard time.” The superintendent, Dr. Navarro, later invited the public to a virtual town hall focused on school safety.

Why it matters: The metrics combine routine discipline counts and screening data with growing demands for behavioral-health staff. School leaders said the figures point to a need for continued investments in counseling, staff training and calibrated application of the student code of conduct.

Most students, fewer repeat incidents

Jones displayed a “triangle” breakdown showing most…