Votes at a glance: Talbot County Board approves athletics program, contracts, policies and waiver
Summary
At its Nov. 19 meeting the board approved Saint Michael's varsity volleyball, a Chapel playground contract, financing for new buses with Cogent Bank, policy 10.18 (student searches), a minimum-school-funding waiver and personnel/consent items. Vote outcomes are summarized below.
The Talbot County Board of Education approved several formal items Nov. 19. Key outcomes:
- Saint Michael's volleyball: The board approved starting a girls' volleyball program at St. Michael's for the 2026–27 school year after hearing enrollment-interest survey results and assurances about coaching and scheduling. Motion was made and seconded and approved by voice vote.
- Chapel District Elementary playground contract: The board approved a contract for a full playground replacement at Chapel District Elementary using an Omnia Partners cooperative purchasing agreement with GameTime/Cunningham Recreation. Total project funding cited by staff: Aging School Program (Public School Construction Program) grant (~$312,000), Talbot County Public Schools contribution (~$305,000), and $100,000 pledged from PTO and Grandparents Club, for a total of $717,893. Motion to approve the contract was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.
- Bus financing: The board accepted the lowest financing bid from Cogent Bank for approximately $583,000 of bus purchases at a 3.59% rate over 36 months (three-year option) with prepayment options. Motion to accept the Cogent Bank three-year option was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.
- Policy 10.18 (student searches, questioning and arrests): The district adopted a revised policy and administrative regulation that consolidates guidance on student searches, vehicle searches, questioning and arrests on school property; clarifies authorized searchers and documentation requirements; and prohibits strip searches. Counsel noted required training and standardized forms for documentation. Motion to approve Policy 10.18 as presented was made, seconded and adopted by voice vote.
- Minimum School Funding (Blueprint) waiver: Staff presented FY26 compliance targets and recommended seeking waivers for a limited set of small misses (examples include coding/lags tied to multilingual-learner counts and community-school carryover). The board voted to approve the district’s waiver submission to the state accountability office.
- Personnel report and consent agenda: The personnel report (actions taken in closed session) and the remainder of the consent agenda were approved by voice vote.
Motions, seconds and vote tallies were recorded by the meeting chair in the public minutes; all listed items passed on voice votes with no recorded roll-call tallies in the transcript. The board did not vote to change grading policy; instead members asked the superintendent to provide interim guidance on the recently adopted 50% minimum practice.
