Montgomery County Public Schools is going to hand out stricter punishments for students who use or threaten violence in the coming school year. The Maryland school system is particularly upgrading possible punishments for threatening a bomb or attacking a teacher.
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MCPS uses a five-tiered system for handing out punishments to students. Tier one allows for a teacher to handle the disciplinary measures with things like a detention or writing to the students’ parents. Tier five is the most severe with ten-day suspension and a possible recommendation for expulsion.
If a student calls in a bomb threat or attacks a staff member, the recommended punishment currently spans the entire tier system from one to five.
“When there’s a bomb threat, it’s not appropriate for a teacher, nor do they have the training to handle a situation like that,” Peter Moran, the chief of school support and improvement at MCPS, told school board members last week.
Under new guidelines planned for the 2025-2026 school year, both infractions would be raised to a tier four to five, meaning an automatic suspension and possible expulsion.
Theft of $500 or more would also be upgraded from a one to five tier punishment, to a three to five tier punishment. Tier three would include “administrative assigned in-school intervention and restorative circle or a Principal-assigned suspension and restorative approaches,” according to a presentation prepared for the school board.
Tier one would be downgraded to infractions such as excessive talking in class.
Some board members expressed concerns over subjectivity when it came to some of the violations.
“I’m really worried that there’s still a lot of subjectivity in this,” said school board member Brenda Wolfe. “When I see something that says excessive disruptive talking in class, I become very concerned, because that’s a very subjective decision, and the subjectivity usually comes down to our little Black boys.”
Moran said the school system will also keep its restorative justice practices in place. That includes getting all parties involved in some sort of mediation to try and solve the heart of the issue.
Teachers will receive training over the summer, and the new code will be explained to students in orientation sessions next year.
“Schools will embed discussions of the new behavior expectations during student orientations and through ongoing advisory or homeroom lessons,” Moran said.
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