Queen Anne's County school board flags low safety scores as enrollment dips
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
District officials reported a roughly 40‑student drop in enrollment and Maryland School Survey results showing low safety and bullying scores; the board asked for school‑level action plans and regular updates tied to school improvement plans.
QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY, Md. — The Queen Anne's County Board of Education on Jan. 7 received an enrollment and school‑climate briefing that highlighted falling student counts and troubling safety survey results, and asked district leaders for concrete, school‑level action plans.
John Grow, supervisor of accountability, told the board the district's September 30 count shows 7,115 students in grades K–12 (about 40 fewer than last year) and 7,399 total including pre‑K. Grow said kindergarten enrollment stood at 476 and that 509 students were reported as home‑instructed, including 262 monitored directly by the district.
The presentation shifted to results from the Maryland School Survey, which Grow said is part of the state's accountability system and covers safety, environment, engagement and relationships. Board members said they were alarmed by the safety domain scores and by items that reflected bullying and substance‑use attitudes.
"If they're not feeling safe and you got all the way down ... those numbers are alarming," Board Member (name given in meeting) said during discussion, adding that low safety scores can trigger anxiety and emotional distress that impede learning. Another board member asked for school‑level breakdowns and follow‑up so the district can identify root causes rather than simply filing the results.
Superintendent Kibler and interim assistant superintendent Jennifer Schreckengost said principals and leadership teams are treating the survey results as part of school improvement planning. Schreckengost described work with principals to hold focus groups and to ensure students and staff understand the survey items; the administration said it is building corrective actions into school improvement plans tied to the strategic plan.
Board members pressed for progress reports. "Can we have updates on that course of action?" one member asked, noting concern that survey results not be collected and then shelved. Administration said those steps are already being incorporated into principal meetings, school improvement plans and district monitoring, and committed to returning with updates on implementation and outcomes.
The presentation also noted class‑size trends (elementary average ~23 students, middle/high slightly higher) and demographic shifts: a rising Hispanic population and a modest decline in white student counts. Grow said the Maryland School Survey is administered in March and the district also runs a November climate survey (56% response rate this year). He encouraged board members and the public to consult the MDReportCard site for school‑level data and pledged to provide more disaggregated figures and action timelines.
What happens next: district staff said they will integrate findings into school improvement plans, convene focus groups at schools to identify local drivers of low safety scores, and return to the board with progress updates and more granular data.