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Delegate Tomlinson seeks statewide tracking of school injury incidents
Summary
A bill before the House Ways and Means Committee would require Maryland public schools and state institutions to track and report injury incidents that occur on campus, after lawmakers heard testimony about repeated, unrecorded assaults on staff and students.
Delegate Chris Tomlinson presented House Bill 11-94 to the House Ways and Means Committee on March 5, asking the panel to require public elementary and secondary schools, the Maryland School for the Blind, the Maryland School for the Deaf and schools that fall under the Juvenile Services Education Program to develop and implement a system to track and report injury incidents that occur on campus.
Tomlinson said the bill is focused on incidents “where, whether intentional or accidental, … a student, teacher, or school employee injures another student, teacher, or employee.” He described conversations with teachers across several Maryland systems who reported repeated physical assaults—“being slapped across the face, hair being pulled, kicking, biting,” and in one case, a teacher who “was given three back‑to‑back concussions by throwing an iPad at her.”
The bill’s sponsor told the committee the measure is not intended to upend existing policy but to ensure the state captures consistent data on injuries so administrators and policymakers can identify trends and craft targeted interventions. “This bill is simply allowing us to capture the data because right now, this is not one of the many things that we do track,” Tomlinson said.
Brett Leininger, testifying for the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE), opposed the bill as drafted, saying it “creates operational burdens without providing necessary resources.” He told the committee that local systems already document many physical altercations and that new statewide requirements would require development of new tracking systems, staff training and likely incur operational costs. Leininger also described the bill’s definition of injury incident as “very broad and vague” and warned of potential legal liability from delayed or inconsistent notifications.
Committee members pressed both sides on alternatives. MABE offered several approaches in written testimony, including directing the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to evaluate existing reporting systems, identify gaps, and develop guidance and definitions in consultation with educators. Delegate Tomlinson indicated he would accept amendments and called the bill a first step to collect data that could inform later policy responses.
No formal action or vote on the bill was recorded at the hearing; the session concluded with committee members indicating a willingness to consider technical changes and to examine the fiscal and operational implications.
The committee hearing included a mix of classroom anecdotes and system‑level concerns, with advocates saying better data is necessary to retain teachers and improve safety and opponents warning about unfunded mandates and vague definitions that could create legal risk.
