State Board Adopts Home‑and‑Hospital Rule, Grants Permission to Publish Restraint & Seclusion Regulations; Waives One Day for St. Mary's

At its March 1 meeting the Maryland State Board of Education took several formal actions on regulations and calendar waivers.

COMAR adoption — home and hospital. The board approved the state superintendent’s request to adopt amendments to COMAR 13A.03.05 governing home‑and‑hospital instruction. MSDE staff explained the rule adds licensed psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to the list of professionals who may certify the “emotional condition” required for home‑and‑hospital services in places where access to psychologists or psychiatrists is limited. The motion to adopt the regulation was made by Mr. DeShield and seconded by Ms. Hallie; after no discussion the board voted and the motion passed.

St. Mary’s County waiver. The board also approved the state superintendent’s request to waive one instructional day of the 180‑day requirement for St. Mary’s County Public Schools for the 2022–23 school year, allowing the district to set its last day for students as Friday, June 9 instead of Monday, June 12. The motion to approve the waiver was moved by Ms. McCusker and seconded by Ms. Morrow and was carried unanimously.

Restraint and seclusion regulations — permission to publish. MSDE officials presented COMAR 13A.08.04 (Student Behavior Interventions), the implementing regulation for HB1255 (2022), describing a year‑long focus‑group process that included parents and nonpublic special education operators and the development of single‑incident reporting forms and individual student reporting required by statute. After question‑and‑answer the board voted to grant permission to publish the proposed regulation for the required public comment period; the motion to publish was made by Ms. Morrow and seconded by General Sumter and carried on a voice vote.

The department emphasized that publication starts a public comment period; MSDE staff said it will collect feedback, revise guidance and forms as needed, and return for final adoption after the administrative review process.