I am looking for data for several school years. Those are 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. I am looking to separate out information by high and middle schools. I am looking the following information.
For each school year, broken out by middle and high schools:
Did the school have a cellphone policy and what was it (e.g., away during class, total ban in locked pouch or locker, etc.)? If there was no formal policy (i.e., left to the teacher), you can just report as “no.”
How many students were in middle and high schools?
How many students were suspended in middle and high schools?
How many students were suspended specifically for violations of cellphone policies in middle and high schools?
What were overall school GPAs in middle and high schools?
How many mental health referrals were made for students in middle and high schools? How many students were seen by mental health specialists?
Number of reported bullying incidents in middle and high schools.
Responsive to this request, available records in relation to HCPSS’ policy on use of cell phones in schools can be found:
• This website encompasses an overview of the process used in 2024-2025 to evaluate and address student personal device use in HCPSS schools: https://www.hcpss.org/student-personal-device-use/. This includes a review process timeline, links to public Board of Education reports and discussions, stakeholder survey results, public hearings/testimony, as well as external resources used by the school system.
• An additional report to the Board on November 21, 2024, can be found here: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/hcpssmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=D9AP3Z628FF6.
• Discussion of proposed changes to Policy 8080 by the Board’s policy committee on December 5, 2024: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/hcpssmd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=D9DLXV58C01F.
• The adoption of the changes to Policy 8080 on January 30, 2025, included a mark-up of the policy to show prior/proposed versions, as well as other details regarding the process: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/hcpssmd/Board.nsf/files/DDCNBB5F1B8F/$file/01%2030%202025%20Student%20Personal%20Technology%20Use%20in%20Schools__.pdf.
The current Policy 8080 Responsible Use of Technology, Digital Tools, and Social Media can be found on our website here: https://policy.hcpss.org/8000/8080/. Prior to the process/changes outlined above, the last revision to this policy was in 2020 (you can find revision dates at the bottom of that page).
As you noted you are researching multiple school districts in regards to the data portions of your request, there are several online sources that report annual statewide information:
• The Maryland Report Card: https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/ - will include demographics and achievement data
• HCPSS Enrollment Reports (also included in the statewide data above): https://www.hcpss.org/schools/enrollment-reports/
• MSDE Bullying/Harassment/Intimidation Reporting: https://marylandpublicschools.org/about/documents/dsfss/sssp/bullying/bullying-harassment-intimidation-a.pdf
• MSDE Suspension Reporting: https://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Documents/DCAA/SSP/20242025Student/2025-Student-Suspension-Expulsion-Publication-A.pdf
While I am not certain if this is reported statewide, a prior MPIA response from 2024 included the following data on school based mental health services within HCPSS:
HCPSS SBMH Students Served SY2018-2024.xlsx
This graph shows data on both by grade and total annual students accessing services by the current school-based mental health model utilized by HCPSS. Please note, the current model and tracking did not exist until school year 2018-2019, therefore no prior data exists. Prior to school year 2020-2021, data was collected by school level (elementary, middle, and high school) rather than individual grade level. Data from the last quarter of school year 2023-2024 is in the process of being finalized at this time, and the first quarter of school year 2024-2025 has not yet been collected. HCPSS has made substantial efforts to ensure the accuracy of this information; however, data collection and reporting is consistently subject to change. Please be mindful when comparing data as many variances can occur between reports based on date pulled, parameters used, categories included, etc.