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PCAC hears state-law roundup: cell-phone limits, immigration enforcement, sexual-misconduct response and AI rules will prompt PGCPS policy changes
Summary
Policy staff told the Parent Community Advisory Council several recently passed Maryland bills will require PGCPS to revise policies next year, including strict school-day cell-phone rules, expanded sensitive-location guidance (including buses), updated sexual-abuse response requirements, attendance exceptions for civic engagement, community-school wraparound services expansions and AI policy guidelines.
Ms. Welsh, the district policy lead at the meeting, summarized legislation from the recent General Assembly that will require PGCPS to revise several policies next school year.
She said the student electronic-communication law (House Bill 525 and Senate Bill 928) will require school boards to adopt strict limits on student cellphone use “from the minute the bell rings in the beginning of the day to the end of the day,” and will include requirements about where devices must be stored and specific disciplinary expectations. Welsh cautioned the measure is prescriptive and will likely require district-level expense for storage solutions at elementary and middle schools.
Welsh also noted that bills expanding sensitive-location guidance (Senate Bill 810 and House Bill 1341) will require the district to revisit its immigration-enforcement policy and explicitly include school buses among covered locations. She said the State Department of Education is developing a model sexual-abuse and misconduct response policy (SB685/HB1168) that PGCPS will be required to adopt in its own policies once the state model is issued.
Other items Welsh highlighted: House Bill 575 (attendance exceptions for civil engagement and legislative participation), Blueprint-for-Maryland revisions with implications for community-school wraparound services (SB311), and an AI-ready schools act (SB720) that requires districts to adopt AI policies and professional-development plans. She said PGCPS already has an AI policy and a recently updated administrative procedure; the district will review the state guidance and adjust as necessary.
Next steps: the board committee planned to vote June 16 to send several policies out for public comment; once the state model policies and timelines are finalized, PGCPS will circulate drafts for public input and required comment periods.
