Bill
SB 714
MSDE must collect and publish disaggregated discipline data and require districts to reduce disproportionate impacts via annual plans and targeted actions.
Status & Key Dates
- Introduced (Maryland): January 27, 2025. Effective date: July 1, 2025.
- First required report and data publication: October 1, 2026, and annually thereafter.
Purpose
Require the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to collect, publish, and report detailed, disaggregated discipline‑related data to increase transparency about school discipline practices and to identify and remediate disproportionate disciplinary impacts on student subgroups.
What the bill would do — major provisions
- Public data posting: MSDE must make all discipline‑related data publicly available as an accessible, disaggregated electronic spreadsheet (downloadable) at the State, local school system, and individual school levels.
- Required disaggregation: Data must be broken out by grade level, race, ethnicity, disability status (including separate identification of students with 504 plans and IEPs), socioeconomic status (e.g., free/reduced meals), English language proficiency, gender, and type of discipline.
- Annual reporting: MSDE must report the gathered data and findings to the Governor and General Assembly each year beginning October 1, 2026.
- Definitions and thresholds:
- “High‑suspending” school: elementary schools that suspend ≥10% of students in each subgroup; secondary schools that suspend ≥25% in each subgroup.
- MSDE must maintain a risk ratio and State comparison threshold of 2.0 to identify disproportionate impact (i.e., subgroup removal rate ≥2.0 times the comparison rate).
- Required local responses: If MSDE identifies a school as high‑suspending or having a disproportionate impact, the local education agency must submit a plan to the State Board to reduce the disproportionate impact within 1 year and eliminate it within 3 years.
- Action plan: MSDE must publish an annual action plan summarizing identified schools and providing supports/resources for reducing disparities and exclusionary discipline.
- Privacy carve‑out: MSDE need not report subgroup data when the subgroup population is fewer than 10 if doing so would violate FERPA.
Who is affected
- MSDE (data collection, analysis, publication, and action plan duties)
- Local school systems and public schools (data submission, planning if identified)
- Students and families, especially members of racial/ethnic minority groups, students with disabilities, English learners, and low‑income students
Fiscal impact
- State general fund staffing and operating costs estimated as an insignificant but measurable increase: approximately $56,000 in FY 2026, rising to ~$73,000 by FY 2030 per the fiscal note; revenues unaffected. Local systems are expected to absorb reporting duties largely within existing resources, though some districts might need additional staff if many schools are identified.
Procedural/timeline notes
- Data publication and the first required report begin October 1, 2026; MSDE must maintain the 2.0 thresholds going forward. Local plans to address identified disparities carry 1‑ and 3‑year timelines for reduction and elimination, respectively.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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