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Board adopts changes to licensure regulations to align contract dates, allow superintendent discretion on out-of-state sanctions
Summary
The Professional Standards Teacher Education Board voted to adopt two amendments to COMAR that remove a hard July 15 resignation date, align the regulation with regular teacher-contract language, and give the state superintendent discretion to adopt or recognize out-of-state sanctions as satisfied. The package moves next to the State Board of Education for final action.
The Professional Standards Teacher Education Board voted to adopt two amendments to licensure regulations, COMAR 13A.12.0602 and 13A.12.0603, that align Maryland’s disciplinary-rule language with contract dates and give the state superintendent new discretion to account for sanctions imposed by other states.
Kelly Meadows, the assistant state superintendent’s designee on the board, told members the amendments remove the rigid July 15 date from the disciplinary regulation and instead point to the dates in the regular teacher contract so the two provisions match. "So what this basically does is it removes this piece that says after July 15," she said, explaining the change is intended to eliminate a mismatch between two regulatory sections. Meadows also described two additional elements: the superintendent may adopt a sanction imposed by another state and may decide that an out-of-state sanction has already been satisfied, allowing an educator to seek a Maryland license sooner.
The change means, for example, that if a teacher served three years of a five-year sanction in another state and then moved to Maryland, the superintendent could align Maryland’s action with the remaining two years so the applicant could apply once the out-of-state sanction expires. Meadows said the amendments were previously published for 30 days of public comment and that Baltimore County Public Schools submitted a comment in support.
Dr. Winona Taylor moved adoption of the two regulations and Dionne Kirby seconded. The board registered no objections and the chair declared the measures adopted; the package will now return to the State Board of Education for their August meeting and final adoption. The board’s action is procedural for this body: for licensure and educator-preparation regulations, both this board and the State Board of Education must agree before regulations take effect.
The board did not record a roll-call tally during the meeting; members signified approval by raising hands or using on-screen reactions. The amendments will proceed to the State Board as the next step in the regulatory process.
