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 students with zero violations, roughly 11% with one to two incidents and a small group with three or more. He reported modest year‑to‑year movement in a favorable direction for students with zero violations and for those with three-plus incidents.

Areas of concern

Jones told the board that major drugs and controlled-substance incidents had climbed (he cited a rise from a previous 104 incidents to about 133 in the most recent year) and that weapons reports remained too high. “Major firearms are real live guns,” he said, noting the district recorded none in 2022–23, one in 2023–24 and additional recent incidents this school year, including episodes at Billingsley and Westlake that have been publicly reported.

The presentation also singled out increases in major physical attacks on adults and students as priorities for training and prevention.

Dispositions and code of conduct

Staff emphasized that disciplinary responses are governed by federal, state and local law and MSDE policy, and described the district’s five‑level disciplinary framework: classroom management (level 1) through extended suspension and hearing officer review (level 5). Jones said that some infractions now begin at a higher level than in past iterations of the code.

Behavioral-health, screening and interventions

Dr. Blanchard described the district’s mental‑health and screening programs, including a districtwide screening tool called Baseline for middle and high school students and a pilot Team Mental Health First Aid program that has been expanded to all seven high schools.

“We’ve actually trained health teachers in all of our high schools,” Blanchard said, describing the program as part of a grant‑funded collaboration with the Maryland Mental Health Association.

Blanchard and Jones also described steps to strengthen recruitment and retention of counselors and behavioral‑support specialists, short‑term placements and partnerships with community providers such as the Charles County Mediation Center. The district reported modest gains in counselor staffing and said it has hired behavioral health specialists in several secondary schools.

Public and board questions

Board members and student representatives asked about positive incentives and schoolwide programs to reinforce good behavior, such as PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) and legacy activity periods (“nest,” “cougar time,” or “charger time”) that students said had been reduced in some schools after COVID disruptions. Students and board members urged reinvestment in positive‑behavior initiatives rather than relying only on punitive measures.

The superintendent announced a virtual town hall on school safety scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, at 7 p.m., to present additional layers of response and to solicit community input, and said the district will continue short‑ and long‑term efforts to refine training, code changes and behavioral supports.

Ending note

Board members urged continued emphasis on both prevention and supports, including summer continuity for social‑emotional resources and targeted interventions for students with repeated incidents. Jones and Blanchard said staff will continue calibrating the code of conduct and expanding supports while tracking outcomes.