PGCPS policy committee recommends 2026–27 work plan and advances wellness, AI, immunization and audit policies

On June 15, 2026, the Prince George's County Public Schools Policy and Governance Committee recommended the district's 2026–27 Policy and Governance work plan to the full board and voted to advance several policies for revision or public comment.

The committee’s recommendation sends the draft work plan — which lists policies to be developed or revised, items driven by the 2026 legislative session, and administrative procedures needing alignment — to the full board for final consideration. Committee Chair Dr. Felton Moss opened the meeting and noted the agenda was adopted without objection.

Ms. Welsh, the staff presenter, told the committee the work plan includes updates required by recent state and federal developments. She said some changes stem from the past legislative session and court rulings, noting in particular that “our policy says you will not tell the parents, and actually the Supreme Court ruled against that and said that school systems are required to tell the parent because it is their child,” a description Ms. Welsh used while describing proposed revisions to Policy 0103 related to students in gender transition.

The committee also advanced several specific policies: Policy 0116 (Wellness, nutrition, and physical activity) will be released for public comment after members agreed the policy should require schools to offer supervised physical activity during the school day and direct the superintendent’s designee to provide professional development for teachers to integrate activity into instruction. Ms. Welsh described the proposal as non-prescriptive about exactly when activity occurs to allow each school flexibility; Vice Chair Olivo asked whether implementation would create budget or staffing pressures and was told the administration anticipates using existing instructional time and emphasizing teacher training rather than adding staffing units.

Policy 0123 (Artificial intelligence) was recommended to the policy sponsor for revision approval. Ms. Welsh said the system already has administrative procedures and training in place but that the committee will revisit the policy after the Maryland State Department of Education issues guidance related to Senate Bill 720.

The committee recommended a new Policy 5161 (Immunizations) to the policy sponsor for revision approval. Ms. Welsh said the policy would require all PGCPS students, pre-K through grade 12, to meet Maryland Department of Health immunization requirements at enrollment and continued enrollment, establish processes to inform parents about required vaccines, require schools to follow up on noncompliance, and authorize exclusion from school when students are not in compliance except in limited state-authorized situations (temporary enrollment for homeless students or some military families, documented medical contraindications, and MDH-recognized religious exemptions).

Policy 8373 (Office of Internal Audit) was also forwarded to the policy sponsor for revision approval after staff reorganized the document into the board’s current format and clarified audit scope and reporting expectations. Director Deanna Thorps, who reviewed the revisions, indicated she had no substantive concerns and will have an opportunity to review the draft before it is finalized.

The committee voted to release a set of community-input policies for public comment (including items related to the Disabilities Issues Advisory Board and school-based management teams) and recommended a package of policies and rescissions for full-board enactment. Votes were recorded as affirmative by the committee and the work plan and listed policies will next proceed through the board’s normal revision, public-comment and enactment steps.

The committee noted one registered public speaker, Brandon Spriggs, did not appear for the public-comment period. Chair Moss adjourned the meeting at 5:53 p.m. and announced the next virtual Policy and Governance Committee meeting for Sept. 22, 2026.

What comes next: The recommended work plan will go to the full board; policies released for public comment will be posted for community input and the sponsor-reviewed items will return to the committee or go to the full board depending on the sponsorship route.