Board hears sustainability grant, mentorship updates and discusses emergency notifications

At the May 5 work session the board received several shorter operational updates that the administration and board members said will return for more detail.

Sustainability: The sustainability committee (co-chaired by Wade Sewell) reported a $118,000 Maryland Energy Administration award to enhance energy-data management and said 42 schools have been upgraded under the BGE Smart Savers program; the committee is building an internal energy dashboard and exploring solar canopy projects over parking lots to limit roof impacts and provide shaded community space.

Mentorship: Trustees discussed existing mentoring efforts (elementary through high school programs) and plans to create a more cohesive K–12 approach. Board members raised concerns about program fidelity and liability from earlier implementations and said background checks and fingerprinting can be barriers to recruiting volunteers, especially high-school volunteers. Trustees asked staff to follow up with program leaders and return with a quarterly progress report.

Emergency notifications and facilities: One trustee reviewed March SOS incident emails (23 events across 20 schools) and solicited preferences about which notifications trustees want to receive; staff will collect preferences and propose a tailored distribution. The board also received an update that track-repair cost estimates are pending core-sample work and will be shared when complete.

Board members said they would seek further briefings and bring student and community voices into follow-up work.