Career preparedness, help for students who need it: Kirwan is already changing education

This year begins with transitions on nearly level of local government, with new official, new budget considerations and a major new education mandate.

Recently, the Washington County Board of Education and its new superintendent, David Sovine, met with the Washington County Commissioners to start working through those transitions by acquainting them with the state's newest framework for Maryland schools: the Blueprint for Maryland's Future.

Simply put, the Blueprint is the result of the comprehensive study by the Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (named for its chairman, University System of Maryland Chancellor Emeritus William "Brit" Kirwan) that focuses on improving the quality of education in Maryland public schools.

The Kirwan Blueprint, approved by the Maryland General Assembly, gives added emphasis to early childhood education, college and career readiness, retaining educators and keeping schools accountable for results.

And it adds a hefty new investment to public schools — billions of dollars over a 10-year period; hence the accountability requirements.

More:Last-minute changes made Kirwan bill more palatable for some

As school systems have begun to implement the Kirwan Blueprint, they're working through changes to everything from funding to programming. Much of the meeting between the commissioners and the school board focused on how the school system is implementing the "college and career readiness" piece — particularly the WCPS apprenticeship program, which Sovine noted is "Number One in the state of Maryland."

"We want to highlight what's right with Washington County Public Schools and the county as a whole," Sovine told the commissioners as he introduced what he called "a high-level view of the Blueprint" showing state funding for the county schools beginning this year.

The timing was essential as the county prepares to draft its Fiscal 2024 budget. WCPS unveiled its draft budget earlier this month. The school system receives funding from state, federal and local sources; the county's general fund contribution is currently more than $109 million, according to its FY2023 budget document.

But Chief Operating Officer Jefferey Proulx noted that the state is picking up nearly 67% of the basic Blueprint costs for Washington County this year. Additional targeted state aid is being provided for:

• Special education

• Students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals

• Pre-k education

• Students needing help with reading or math proficiency

• Concentration of poverty per capita — two Washington County schools are now receiving this funding; Proulx said he expects four or five more will qualify in FY2024.

Apprenticeship pilot grew into a success

Six years ago, WCPS became one of two Maryland school systems to pilot an apprenticeship program, which matches students with local businesses for on-the-job learning. Pre-dating the Kirwan Blueprint, Youth Apprenticeship Maryland was spearheaded by former Gov. Larry Hogan's administration to promote training of skilled workers for local business.

The program "has had a steady growth each year," Career Technology Education Supervisor James Aleshire told the commissioners. "Even during COVID, Washington County Public Schools was able to place students into apprenticeships.

"Coming out of the pandemic, Washington County Public Schools has seen record growth and placement of apprentices throughout Washington County. We now have over 110 apprentices and are on track to more than double that by the beginning of next school year."

While many are offered through the Boyd J. Michael III Technical High School, but they are available through all the county's comprehensive high schools, he said.

An apprentice is defined as a student who has had up to four CTE courses and is now on the job working, said Gary Willow, associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

This year, he said, the school system is working with Meritus Health to give students options for training as Certified Nursing Assistants.

Blueprint foundation funding has helped pay for these programs, and added costs have been with grants from the Maryland Department of Labor and partners such as the Western Maryland Consortium.

CTE Coordinator Wendy Moore estimated participating employers retain about 90% of student apprentices after their apprenticeships are complete.

More investment in college tracks

WCPS has had a "dual enrollment" program with Hagerstown Community College for some time, and Sovine noted that a pleasant surprise from the Blueprint for the current budget was "the full funding for the dual enrollment courses … that was an item that was not currently budgeted in our current budget and we had to make an adjustment there."

Through these programs, Willow added, students can complete two years of higher education without incurring any debt — even completing an associate degree in the process — while they complete high school. And these programs aren't limited to HCC, he said.

"It's a wonderful option if you choose to go out there," he said, "but many of these programs are also going to be offered in our schools."

More:Washington County Public Schools students taking classes at HCC can go for free

Commissioner Randall Wagner questioned whether the costs, currently coming out of the school system's budget, could be reimbursed if students fail a course or drop out, since "all taxpayers are paying for the education." Commissioner Derek Harvey asked whether WCPS had considered charging students for part of the cost or applying a means test to make them eligible based on income.

Willow said students in these programs are monitored weekly. They're still high school students, he added, and the "dual enrollment" courses fulfill both high school and college credit requirements.

"Just because they leave us as juniors or seniors to go to Hagerstown Community College does not mean they graduated from WCPS," he said. "You have to continue your junior and senior year, and now you just have the possibility of earning perhaps an AA degree and a high school diploma at the same time."

State law, he added, does not permit the school system to charge students for these courses.

"It's a game-changer," Willow said. "Students have a possibility to earn up to 60 college credits."

Although the Kirwan Blueprint has a large price tag, not all the money comes directly from taxpayers. Several years ago legislation approved by the Maryland General Assembly created a "lockbox" for specified gaming revenue. According to state budget documents prepared by the Hogan administration last year, contributions to the Education Trust Fund from casino gaming totaled $3.2 billion in the six years from FY 2015 to FY 2021.

The targeted added funding for Blueprint funding over 10 years is $3.8 billion, according to the Maryland State Department of Education.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: 'Blueprint' for Maryland boosts Washington County schools