Maryland schools must share criminal records following Howard High student's arrest for murder

BALTIMORE -- Maryland's school board took emergency action Tuesday to mandate that school leaders are informed when a student has committed a serious crime.

The new regulation follows WJZ's reporting on a 17-year-old Howard High student now charged with murder, and the superintendent's complaints that he was left in the dark about the teenager's violent past when he changed school systems.

Before, if a student committed a violent crime and transferred schools, it was optional for the old school system to notify the new one. 

On Tuesday morning, Maryland's Board of Education voted unanimously to mandate that school systems share information when a student convicted or accused of a serious or violent crime transfers schools. 

"We must be as clear and transparent as possible between and across school systems when it comes to sharing information about transfer students who may pose a threat to school communities," said Maryland's state superintendent Dr. Carey Wright. 

Assistant state superintendent Mary Gable told school board members, "It includes such things as murder, arson, armed carjacking, sexual offenses. …These are serious offenses, these are not minor offenses."

Murder case prompts changes

The head of the state school board noted, "We are not going to entertain any discussion of any specific cases that may be in the news," but the change in regulations follows a 17-year-old Howard High School student being charged with murder on October 15.

The teenager was taken into custody at the school with a loaded, fully automatic ghost gun in his backpack. 

At the time, that teenager was on an ankle monitor and under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Services for an attempted murder that left the victim paralyzed.

He had recently transferred from Anne Arundel County schools.

Howard County's superintendent told WJZ he was left in the dark about the student's past and would never have allowed him to attend classes in person at Howard High had he known.

"When the student transferred to our district, there was a gap. We had no record and were unable to get information from the Department of Juvenile Services," Howard superintendent Bill Barnes said last week.

A 14-year-old who attends Chesapeake High School in Pasadena is also charged in the murder that happened in a parking lot near Howard High. 

Lawmakers demand action

State Senator Clarence Lam was among lawmakers who wrote a letter to the state superintendent demanding the change "to make sure we can close any loopholes as quickly as possible because that's not only what the community demands, but it's what all of us demand in terms of accountability—and making sure that all levels of government are talking to each other."

Lam is a Democrat representing Howard and Anne Arundel Counties.

"Communication can be critical, and those gaps, those lapses in communication, can really cause significant risk and harm," Lam told WJZ. "We saw that in this instance."

But there's still work to do. The emergency notifications do not affect students transferring into public schools from private schools, independent programs, or out-of-state schools. 

"We will continue to review applicable laws and regulations to ensure our school leaders have the information they need to keep school buildings safe," Wright said. 

Wright sent a letter to superintendents in Maryland's 24 school districts dated Tuesday informing them of the change that is "effective immediately."

Lam's office said, "Since MSDE issued this as an emergency regulation, staff for the Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review Committee (AELR) will poll the committee for their approval at least 10 days after the AELR receives the regulation. Assuming no one on the committee asks for a hearing, the regulation will go into effect."

The information about a student's criminal background will be shared confidentially among superintendents and top security officers in school systems.

Governor reacts

The day before the state school board's vote, Governor Wes Moore said there needed to be changes to the system. 

"It's a system that we inherited. But when you have a student who moves from one jurisdiction to another jurisdiction, there needs to be a way for the new jurisdiction to be able to be notified about that," Moore said. "So we plan on working with all of our partners to ensure that loophole gets closed because I'm very frustrated by what we saw in that situation."

Schiraldi's future

Moore's Secretary of Juvenile Services Vincent Schiraldi has been facing calls to step down. 

Schiraldi told WJZ Friday he supported school superintendents receiving reportable criminal background information about their students, but police and prosecutors are responsible for providing it, and his agency was legally prohibited from doing so. 

Schiraldi also addressed online petitions and demands by some lawmakers that he step down. 

"Oh, I'm sticking around. I've got no plans on going anywhere. So far, all I've heard from the governor is that he supports the direction we are taking," Schiraldi said. "He wants young people held accountable. He wants us to improve public safety and wants us to help turn their lives around. It's a balancing act in the juvenile system. It's both accountability and rehabilitation."

When asked about Secretary Schiraldi's future, the governor said, "Everybody is working together to ensure that our community is going to be our safe. Our administration has two priorities: We are going to increase accountability, and we are going to increase opportunities for our young people. That is the vision that we have for our administration, and everybody in my administration understands that to include Secretary Schiraldi."