State Board report: attendance, charter and library‑media regulations among April actions

Hannah delivered the State Board of Education update, summarizing several actions taken in April and items planned for May.

She said April was ‘‘our big purple star schools month’’ to honor 27 Purple Star Schools across the state and described regulatory activity: adoption of student attendance regulations, republication of local board meeting rules for additional public comment, permission to publish a disciplinary actions and denials regulation (which had taken first action earlier), and adoption of library/media regulations to implement the Freedom to Read Act. Hannah also noted adoption of two public charter school program regulations and a licensure assessment update for edTPA that had taken first action.

For May, Hannah previewed requests for permission to adopt appeals to the State Board that clarify how certain local board actions (including superintendent terminations) can be appealed, a regulation for educational programs and nonpublic nursery schools, athletics regulations and revisions to student expression regulations for republishing after public comment. She said the May agenda also includes statewide updates on a Prince George’s County coaching pilot and a joint afternoon meeting with the AIB to discuss aligned metrics, accountability models and a legislative and budget wrap up going into FY27.

Why it matters: The items Hannah described will affect local boards' procedures, charter school oversight, school library and media policy implementation and licensure policy timelines.