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With the 2025-26 school year starting next week in some counties, Maryland鈥檚 two top education leaders had a message for local school officials: Follow state law.
The calm, but stern warning came Wednesday during a back-to-school news conference in Baltimore with State Superintendent Carey Wright and state Board of Education President Joshua Michael. Neither named specific school districts, but when reporters asked about administrative and policy changes related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Calvert and Somerset counties, they did not hesitate to answer.
鈥淚n Maryland we have a state public education system. Local school board leaders who lead local school systems are actually state officials,鈥� Michael said. 鈥淭hey have authority within the state system that Dr. Wright leads to really bring that local context into schools and ensure that the management day to day and the policy set for local school system are done well.
鈥淏ut at the end of the day, it鈥檚 a Maryland public education system. It is not a specific county,鈥� he said.
That was echoed by Wright, who said she meets monthly with local superintendents, when topics include changes to federal government policies on DEI, immigration and other topics.
鈥淎s Dr. Michael said, every district is so different, and the local politics are very different, but the state law is not different per district,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 where we want to make sure that everybody is very clear on what the state law has to say about any issue.鈥�
The Calvert County school board voted in June to remove an anti-racism resolution from its student code of conduct that began with a statement of outrage over the 2020 deaths of 鈥淕eorge Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, as well as countless other African Americans who have lost their lives as a result of racism and police brutality that persist in our country.鈥�
The board also voted to remove the resolution from the school system鈥檚 website and social media platforms, reasoning that the previous board in June 2020 did not vote to add the resolution to the student code. That was done by staff without board directive, board President Jana Post said during the meeting this June.
On Thursday, the five-member board took less than 3 minutes to vote to repeal the school system鈥檚 antiracism policy, last revised in February 2024.
鈥淚 would like to be sure and make it clear that we have a discrimination policy in place that covers all forms of illegal discrimination,鈥� Post said. 鈥淪o having a separate antiracism policy is redundant. It sends the message that we are elevating one form of discrimination over all other forms of discrimination.鈥�
In an email Wednesday, Post said the board鈥檚 鈥渙nly comment is that we support the safety of all students and groups any discrimination, as outlined in our current discrimination policy and procedure.鈥�
Last week鈥檚 decision will be posted for 30 days for public comment 鈥� and Calvert County resident Birgit Sharp has some comments she plans to share.
Sharp, a member of local community group CANDLE (Community Action Network for Democracy Liberties and Equality), and others protested prior to the board鈥檚 vote last week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really scary to me that this happened,鈥� Sharp said Wednesday. 鈥淭his is a school [system] with not a lot of people of color. To not have the extra protections 鈥� put in there is scary.鈥�
One next step, Sharp said, will be mobilizing residents who may want to run for school board in next year鈥檚 election.
Three current board members 鈥� Melissa Goshorn, Paul Harrison and Joseph Marchio 鈥� won in 2024 with the backing of Project 1776 PAC, a group that pushes for conservative education policies and parental rights in schools.
State stepped in
Project 1776 also helped Mary Beth Bozman and Matthew Lankford get elected last year to the Somerset County Board of Education. Lankford serves as school board chair.
For the past several months, the board pushed to cut $1 million for librarians from the budget and to remove alleged DEI policies, as first reported by The Baltimore Banner.
But when the school board sought to get rid of Somerset County Public Schools Superintendent Ava Tasker-Mitchell, who is Black, Wright stepped in.
The board tried to get rid of Tasker-Mitchell in June and sought to appoint David Bromwell, who is white and a former superintendent in Dorchester County, as interim superintendent.
The state reinstated Tasker-Mitchell for 60 days, which ended Aug. 5. But in an Aug. 4 letter to Lankford, Wright denied his request to have Tasker-Mitchell 鈥渧acate the [Somerset County] property on Aug. 6.鈥�
The state board passed an emergency regulation that went into effect July 23 that allowed Wright to extend Tasker-Mitchell鈥檚 reinstatement until Jan. 19 or until a hearing occurs. The regulation was approved by the General Assembly鈥檚 Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review.
鈥淚t is my expectation that Dr. Tasker-Mitchell will report to work on August 6, 2025, and be allowed to exercise her lawful duties as county superintendent,鈥� Wright wrote.
Wright鈥檚 letter also warned the school board that violating state law could result in funding being withheld, and noted that 鈥渢he State Board is authorized to initiate removal of board members for willful neglect of duty.鈥�
Tasker-Mitchell鈥檚 picture remains on the school system鈥檚 website. A representative with Somerset schools did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
