State bill would place burden of proof on Harford County schools regarding issues of individual education programs

Jason Fontelieu, The Aegis, Bel Air, Md.
·2 min read

Feb. 14—A bill in the Maryland House of Delegates would place the burden of proof onto Harford County Public Schools involving issues with individual education programs, which are required by law for public school students who receive special education and related services.

Harford Del. Mike Griffith, the sponsor of House Bill 120, said, currently the "burden of proof is generally neutral when it comes to disputes over individual education plans." He said this means if a student or parent believed their IEP wasn't providing a quality education, they would have to prove it to the school system.

"It's really just the parent and child versus the school," said Griffith, a Republican from District 35A. "It's insurmountable."

Griffith said that by shifting the burden of proof onto the school system, "the public schools are more incentivized to find the solution" before potential litigation.

"I've had lots of my constituents come to me expressing how distraught they are when they are overmatched at the table advocating for their children's IEPs with no solution in sight," Griffith said.

Individual education programs, which stem from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990, are required plans for students with disabilities that bring teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel and students into line on the same page regarding the child's educational path.

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While Griffth's bill would only apply to Harford County, he is co-sponsoring a similar bill, HB294, with Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, a Democrat from Howard County, that would apply to all county school systems across the state.

Griffith said the county-specific version of the bill is in case the statewide version fails.

Griffith said his inspiration came from a similar bill from the 2022 legislative session, HB865, sponsored by the Howard County delegation, that would've applied to Howard County Public Schools.

In addition to Griffith's two bills, there are similar bills currently in the Maryland General Assembly applying to Howard County, Baltimore County and Baltimore city.

Griffith is a parent of a special needs child; his 8-year-old son has autism and is in the STRIVE Program, which serves autism students from kindergarten through age 21.

While Griffith said his son has had good experiences in Harford County Public Schools, "I know lots and lots of parents who aren't as blessed as I am to be in a situation to advocate for themselves," he said. "This is for those folks."

Griffith's bill will be voted on by the Harford County delegation on Thursday, Griffith said, to decide whether or not to make it a delegation-sponsored bill. It would require four of six votes to do so. If it receives delegation support, the bill would then go to the House of Delegates' Ways and Means Committee for a vote.