Proposed Maryland bill aims to alert schools to potentially violent students
A Maryland lawmaker who represents parts of Harford and Cecil counties is introducing legislation that would alert schools to potentially dangerous students.
If passed, it will be up to the state's attorney to decide whether to report the students to the school, and it will only be reported to the superintendent and one designee, such as a school resource officer, who can then decide if the student belongs in a traditional classroom setting.
"If you have an individual who's a student who has or is capable of committing a violent rape and murder, it's not only for the safety of every student, it's also for their own safety as well. Because you don't want to put a kid who, or a student, or anybody who is capable or has committed these types of crimes back in a position where they can do these things again," said Del. Mike Griffith, who is introducing the bill.
Along with this bill, Del. Griffith is also introducing a companion bill, which expands the list of reportable offenses to a school after a student has been convicted.
"Believe it or not, you can be charged and convicted of distribution and production of child pornography, and that's not reportable to the schools," said Del. Griffith. "You can be convicted of threatening to shoot a school up and not be reportable to the schools, which is absolutely insane to me."
Both bills will be formally introduced at the start of the new session.
"What we're trying to prevent is, we don't want kids who may be innocent to be stigmatized in their schools, so there's no notification to the school officials, or teachers, staff, things of that nature," Del. Griffith said. "And if the superintendent feels that this student is a potential threat, they can move that student out of the classroom setting without anybody ever knowing."
Why the bill was introduced
The legislation is in response to violent encounters among children and young adults in Harford County.
On July 27, 2022, 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton was raped and murdered in Aberdeen, Maryland. Five months later, while law enforcement and prosecutors waited for DNA testing to be examined, a 17-year-old suspect was arrested.
"So in the meantime, while all the law enforcement officials and the prosecutors knew this was the likely suspect in this heinous crime, he was allowed to attend high school in Harford County while waiting for the DNA evidence to return," said Del. Griffith.
In 2024, then 16-year-old Jaylen Prince shot and killed a classmate, 15-year-old Warren Grant, in the bathroom of Joppatowne High School. Prince was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with all but 75 years suspended.
Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey called proposed bill a common sense public safety issue, telling WJZ in a statement, "Right now schools are without knowledge of charges and without the ability to employ appropriate security or other measures to keep our children safe. The proposed legislation would remove that road block and provide for limited sharing of information that is solely designed to protect not only the children directly associated with the charged case but all students in the school systems to which their parents entrust them."
