TOWSON, Md. — For mom Ashley Moses, back to school season comes with concerns for her son, who has autism. At his school in Baltimore County, all kids with special needs are grouped together in a classroom, regardless of age.
"If he had individuals or peers around him that were at least on his level or above, that'd give him a chance to grow," Moses said.
For Margaret Buxton, a former Baltimore County teacher and grandparent to two kids in the school system, she's worried about over-filled classrooms.
"I think smaller class sizes are better for kids. I'd like to see that addressed," Buxton said.
Those are just some of the issues top of mind for parents as kids head back to school in Baltimore County on Monday.
But with new leadership, there's also hope for change.
Dr. Myriam Yarbrough was chosen as the new superintendentin May.
"We're committed to being open and honest and doing our very best, and examining our practices and how well implementation is going. And if something is not going as intended, we're going to course correct. We're not afraid to say - this was the plan, however it's not working as intended, and so we need to make a shift, and say it out loud - this is what we're making a shift in, and this is the reason why," Dr. Yarbrough said today during a press conference.
She shared some updates with us for the new school year. Here are the highlights:
The school district is about 200 teachers shy of being fully staffed. It's an improvement from last year, when the district had 380 vacancies on the first day.
The district is introducing a new English and Math curriculum, with the goal of improving grades and standardized test results.
Two new schools will open in January - both are elementary schools and can accommodate about 1,500 students combined.
The district is installing an artificial intelligence weapons detection system in all schools, called Omnilert. We recently reported the technology was being deployed in Charles County Public Schools this year, and interviewed the CEO of the manufacturing company to find out how it works.
You can find that storyhere.
The district is also doing a complete overhaul of its software, to prevent another cyber attack, like the one that shut down schools in 2020.
To address fighting in schools, the district is adding more mental health resources for students and enforcing the existing cell phone policy so kids are off social media during the school day.
"Principals have shared with us, and parents, and students, that one of the most disruptive behaviors is fighting in schools. It creates a sense of not feeling safe in schools. So we are going to be consistent in terms of implementing the consequences we have written," said Dr. Yarbrough.
There will also be a bus tracking location app for parents, called BusWhere.
Parents like Moses are optimistic.
"New is always to me - good. We kinda in the same place, so new is good. So i would like to see what this year brings for the kids," Moses said.
