During public forum on Dec. 9 multiple speakers urged the Board of Education to respond to classroom conditions and support pipeline programs.

Beth Ullman, an elementary general-music teacher, described an ‘‘unsustainable’’ workload that now includes data tracking for hundreds of students and added intervention duties that pull teachers from core instruction. Peter Ullman spoke on behalf of elementary colleagues, saying teachers are spending more time managing disruptive and sometimes violent behaviors and that discipline referrals are sometimes delayed or rejected, which discourages staff.

Veronica Golden, a Gail Bailey art teacher and vice president of the Education Association of Charles County, called for reduced administrative load, strengthened special-education supports (case-manager capacity and paraeducators), and “meaningful consequences” paired with supports for students whose behavior repeatedly disrupts classrooms.

Several commenters raised related priorities: Stefan Humphreys reported alleged repeated bullying by a bus driver on a long route and urged more de-escalation training for transportation staff; Claire Mitchell, a La Plata High School junior in the Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM), and teacher Sean Starcher urged that TAM senior-level coursework be weighted (AP/college-level weight) to reflect its rigor and to help recruit future teachers.

Board members and the superintendent accepted the public concerns and outlined near-term steps: staff already hold regular meetings with union leadership and have scheduled follow-up conversations about workload; the board proposed holding a community town hall focused on vaping with student voice and public-health partners, and transportation staff were asked to follow up with the bus route supervisor about parent concerns.

Speakers asked for stronger, consistent systems to track incidents and timely administrative response. The board and superintendent said they would continue working with staff, the union and families to explore concrete actions, including policy review and outreach.