Public commenters urge the board to fight funding limits and restrict early elementary screen time

Public commenters used the June 11 Prince George's County Board of Education meeting to press two distinct concerns: long‑term school funding shortfalls and classroom technology use for young children.

Timothy Meyer, a registered public commenter, warned of an ongoing fiscal crisis and urged the incoming permanent superintendent and board to pursue an aggressive legislative strategy. Meyer said the district had made roughly $150,000,000 in cuts and called those reductions “forced by SB 429, and HB 398, and 48 years of TRIM,” adding that the district must “write our own legislation, go on offense” and mobilize parents to advocate for full funding. These were assertions made by a member of the public and were not framed as board findings during the meeting.

Julia Saladino, a parent of an incoming second grader and kindergartner at University Park Elementary School, urged limits on classroom screen time for early elementary grades. Saladino described incidents where students were distracted by YouTube on school‑issued Chromebooks and said some teachers used videos as a classroom management tool. She outlined requested solutions, including prohibiting device use during unstructured times (transitions, recess), establishing grade‑based daily screen‑time limits, minimizing routine device use in early grades and enforcing consistent policies across classrooms.

Chair Brandon Jackson reminded the public that the board will not engage in dialogue during the public comment portion; the board did not take formal action in response to the remarks on June 11. Written and prerecorded comments are posted on Diligent per the chair’s instructions.

What happens next: the comments were entered into the public record; the board did not vote on policy changes related to classroom device use or on a legislative strategy at this meeting.