Inspector General tells subcommittee complaints rose 43% as office seeks resources to close backlog
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Summary
The Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education told the Education, Business and Administration Subcommittee that complaints increased 43% in the latest year and that the office needs additional staff and cooperation from some school systems to close a growing backlog of investigations.
Natalie Andrade of the Department of Legislative Services presented the fiscal 2027 allowance for the Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education, saying the agency's FY27 request totals $2.9 million, an increase of $276,000, or 10.6%, from the fiscal 2026 working appropriation. Andrade told lawmakers that salaries and benefits account for about 93% of the proposed budget.
Inspector General Richard P. Henry told the panel that his office received 583 complaints in calendar 2025, up 43% from 408 the prior year. He said not every complaint becomes an investigation but that the office opened 11 investigations in 2025 and closed five, producing a 45% closure rate for the year. Henry said his office has identified more than $12 million in financial mismanagement over the period described and more than $100 million since 2020.
Henry told senators the caseload was slowed in many instances by delayed or incomplete records provided by some school systems. He described a pattern in which staff must subpoena records for systems that will not voluntarily provide them, only to discover that the documents produced are incomplete or incorrect and require additional subpoenas.
Senators asked whether the office has adequate staffing and funding to handle the increased complaints. Henry said the office has requested additional staff in prior years but that those requests were not included in the current budget; he said the office intends to use carryover resources to close a number of pending cases in the coming months.
The Department of Legislative Services recommended concurring with the Governor's allowance for the office and asked the Inspector General to report back on the status of recommendations and actions taken by the Maryland State Department of Education and local education agencies to address findings cited in DLS's analysis.
The hearing record shows discussion of staffing shortfalls, delayed records production and an anticipated near-term reduction in backlog as the office applies carryover resources to close older cases.
