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Bill would shrink Maryland School for the Deaf board and require a deaf majority
Summary
SB 339 would reduce the Maryland School for the Deaf Board of Trustees from 19 to 13 members and require at least seven deaf members, sponsors and school leaders told the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee. Proponents said the changes would improve quorum reliability and center lived experience in governance.
Andrew, appearing on behalf of Senator Karen Lewis Young, told the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee that Senate Bill 339 “is a very simple bill” to modernize governance at the Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD).
John A. Serrano, superintendent of the Maryland School for the Deaf, said the bill — jointly requested by MSD and its board — would reduce the board’s size to make it "more nimble" and would "guarantee a permanent deaf majority." Serrano said the change would help ensure leadership "is always guided by those with lived, cultural, and linguistic expertise necessary to serve our students." Board President Krista Leach Walker also voiced the trustees’ support.
Andrew and Serrano told the committee the MSD currently has 19 trustees and a statutory minimum of six deaf members; SB 339 would cut the board to 13 members and increase the minimum number of deaf trustees to seven, creating a statutory deaf majority. Andrew noted the board was last reduced in 1992, from 30 members to the current size.
Aschala DeBerry, director of the Governor’s Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, said the bill “aligns with this mission by strengthening deaf representation on the Board of Trustees” and argued that smaller, well‑structured boards can improve deliberation and accountability.
Committee members did not ask questions of the panel. The sponsor and witnesses requested a favorable report.
What’s next: The committee closed the hearing on SB 339 and moved to the next agenda item; no formal vote was recorded during the hearing.
