Policy committee forwards safe-sleep, contracts and reportable-offenses COMAR changes to full State Board

The Maryland State Board of Education Education Policy Committee voted unanimously to forward three proposed COMAR regulatory items to the full State Board for further action and public comment.

Dr. Cook, presenting the safe-sleep package, said the proposed amendments align licensed and registered programs with American Academy of Pediatrics guidance and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards for cribs and sleeping equipment. "To be clear, the regulations prohibit swaddling in general and also prohibit weighted swaddles," Cook said, and staff described requirements that infants sleep on firm, flat, non-inclined surfaces unless a licensed health provider provides written exception. The package also includes brief, age-appropriate tummy-time guidance to support early development.

MSDE staff said they received one public comment about where prohibitions on weighted rest items should appear in the COMAR text; staff moved the language so the restriction would be located in the rest-time safety section rather than the rest-furnishings section to reduce the risk of misinterpretation.

Miss Meadows summarized changes to the contracts regulation that MSDE asked the committee to publish. "The sole amendments ... are with regard to transitioning the word certificate and certification to license and licensure," she said, explaining the edits are technical and intended to align contract language with newly adopted licensure regulations. Committee members raised no questions and voted to recommend permission to publish.

Dr. Gable presented revisions to the reportable-offenses regulation that MSDE is seeking to republish after substantive edits. He said MSDE accepted three recommendations: clarify the definition of "student with a disability," ensure that notice of an arrest for a reportable offense "may not be the sole basis for the change of the student's regular school program," and explicitly include students with Section 504 plans among those entitled to appropriate educational programming and related services. Gable emphasized the confidential nature of these determinations and the regulation's requirement that school principals consult appropriate staff when assessing whether a student's presence presents a safety risk.

On each item the committee moved, seconded and voted. The committee recorded unanimous votes to forward the safe-sleep adoption recommendation, permission to publish the contracts amendments, and permission to republish the reportable-offenses regulation to the full State Board for the next meeting and public comment period.

Next steps: the items will be posted for the public comment period (where applicable) and returned to the full State Board for final decisions. MSDE staff said they will continue to update the board as public comments and any further amendments develop.