New MD Rule Requires Schools To Share Student Criminal Records

MARYLAND — The Maryland State Board of Education unanimously passed an emergency rule change this week that will require schools to share information about criminal incidents involving students.

The new rule, which takes effect immediately, amended a previous one that gave school officials the option to share a student's criminal records if the student transferred from one Maryland public school system to another.

"If this information is not transmitted to the school in which the student transfers, the receiving school does not have the information that may impact the safety dynamics within the school community," Maryland State Superintendent Carey Wright said in a memo.

According to a WTOP report, the amended rule affects only direct student transfers from one Maryland public school system to another. It does not address students with juvenile criminal records or allegations who come to Maryland schools from independent education programs, out-of-state placements, non-public schools or other placements.

The new rule came a week after a 17-year-old boy from Ellicott City was arrested in connection with the shooting death of a Baltimore man who was found dead in a vehicle behind an office building in Columbia.

The teen, later identified as Tracee Octavious Parker, was arrested on Oct. 15 at Howard High School where he was a student. Police said he had a loaded gun in his backpack and was wearing an ankle monitor for an incident in another jurisdiction.

According to police, Parker was under the supervision of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services when he was arrested. Parker has since been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and other counts.

Howard County Superintendent Bill Barnes confirmed during a recent news conference that officials did not know that Parker — who had enrolled from a neighboring school district — was under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Services and were not aware of his prior convictions.

"We learned ... following the bail hearing of very serious alleged violent offenses in this individual’s past. If this information and data had been available to us before ..., I assure our community that I would not have approved a placement at Howard High School for this student," Barnes said. "Good decisions are predicated on accurate data. And I now know that there is important data not available to the school system that best informs placement."