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Bill would let counties use income guidelines to target AP/IB fee assistance
Summary
Delegate Janelle Wilkins and Montgomery County officials urged the Ways and Means Committee to allow counties to set income‑based eligibility for no‑cost access to AP and IB exams, preserving free access for families under 400% of the federal poverty level while reducing fiscal pressure on school systems.
Delegate Janelle Wilkins presented House Bill 12‑62 on March 5 to allow county boards of education to establish income eligibility guidelines and procedures for payment of costs associated with post‑college and career readiness pathways, including Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams.
Wilkins said the bill “ensures that a student with a family income below 400 percent of the federal poverty level is provided access at no cost to these post CCR pathways,” while giving local jurisdictions ability to implement tiered or sliding‑scale approaches for families who exceed that threshold but still face financial barriers.
Julie Yang, president of the Montgomery County Board of Education, told the committee MCPS spent “more than $4,400,000” on AP/IB exams in fiscal 2024 and supported the bill as a way to better target limited resources. Nikki Hazel, associate superintendent for curriculum and instructional programs for MCPS, said the district uses sliding‑scale models in other programs and supports a tiered approach for exam fees to preserve access for students with the greatest financial need.
Yvonne Alfonso Windsor, MCPS chief financial officer, said MCPS projects spending “over $5,500,000 toward AP and IB exam fees” in fiscal 2026 and gave a hypothetical: if 20 percent of students taking exams exceeded the eligibility threshold, “it would result in over $1,000,000 that could be reallocated to support other students' needs.”
Committee members asked for clarifications about existing waivers and how the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future changed payment responsibilities. Sponsors and county witnesses said the bill is intended to preserve free access for low‑income families, reduce unnecessary fiscal strain on local school budgets and allow districts discretion to allocate resources equitably.
No formal committee vote was recorded at the hearing; county officials and the sponsor said they would continue to discuss implementation details with the committee.
