On March 23, 2023, the Wicomico County Board of Education voted to send a letter of support for Senate Bill 926 to the Senators of the Maryland General Assembly. After At-Large board member Kristin Hazel made a motion before the board, four board members voted in support of the special education bill to help disabled children and their families: Kristin Hazel (At-Large), Susan Beauchamp (District 3), David Plotts (District 4) and John Palmer (District 5).
Those who opposed the bill were Bonnie Ennis (At-Large), Vice Chair Allen Brown (District 1) and board Chair Gene Malone (District 2).
Dear Readers,
While certainly newsworthy, this should not come as a shock to anyone. It has long been the unspoken practice for the WCBOE to collectively drag their feet with regard to special needs students. To that end, a parent/caregiver who pursues legal action due to denial of FAPE becomes caught up in a never ending barrage of legal fees. The goal is indeed to wear down the parent and exhaust their financial resources. In short, this is effective. The parent/caregiver must request due process through mediation, and the process is lengthy and time consuming. If this bill passes and is signed by the Governor, it will force compliance on behalf of the school division, and will relieve parents/caregivers from the burden of proof and will certainly be interesting to watch how the WCBOE responds. My money is on several retirements to happen abruptly as there are several high profile cases going on right now that would immediately benefit from this bill should it pass.
Regards,
Paladin
Glad those four on the board did the right thing. That Hazel lady is amazing. We are blessed to have her!
why does she campaign with a registered sex offender like Lombardo? Seems curious….
maybe bonnie knows this bill will cause a tsunami of cases for the school system. After she helped bring all those felons that were kicked out of their previous schools from other states become classified as special needs and had their states paying for them to attend school in this county!
Dear 7:06 a.m.,
You are quite correct, hence my previous comments.
Regards,
Paladin