The State Board has added an afternoon public comment period in addition to the morning time slot, which will commence in March 2025 for the first time and will begin at approximately 4 pm at each meeting going forward.
Members of the public are encouraged to submit comment(s) and feedback to the State Board of Education to share their views on issues pertaining to matters under the Board’s authority, including the administration of the public school systems of the State. The process for signing up and providing public testimony is outlined below. If you have any questions about this process, please submit them to
stateboard.msde@maryland.gov.
All speakers shall conduct themselves in a respectful, civil manner. Although State Board members do not respond to the comments during the public comment segment of the Board meeting, they do listen and may take follow-up action within the scope of the Board’s authority and jurisdiction. The State Board will not allow signs or posters to be displayed during the State Board meeting.
To request accommodations due to a disability or language interpretation services, please contact
charlene.necessary@maryland.gov no later than 24 hours in advance.
Process for Public Comment
Registration for public comment will open via an online form that can be found on the State Board website at 8 am on the Monday two weeks before the regular Board meeting (or 8 days before) and will close at 11:59 pm on the Friday immediately before the Board meeting. For example, if the State Board meeting is on Tuesday, February 25th, the public comment window would open on Monday, February 17th at 8 am and close Friday, February 21st at 11:59 pm.
The State Board will hold a morning and an afternoon public comment. The Board will welcome up to ten (10) speakers in the morning and five (5) speakers in the afternoon for a maximum of 45 minutes of public comment. During registration, speakers will select their preferred timing window for the morning or afternoon. Due to demand, no timing window is guaranteed for those who sign up.
The State Board may maintain a waitlist for those who sign up after the public comment period is full. There is no guarantee that those on the wait list will have an opportunity to speak.
The State Board may adjust the public comment period and registration windows for its regular meetings as it deems necessary, at the discretion of the State Board President.
To promote a diversity of perspectives during the public comment period, and at the discretion of the State Board President, the State Board may limit the number of speakers from a single organization addressing the same topic if there is a waitlist of others who wish to speak.
Comments are limited to three (3) minutes per speaker. Time will be monitored by staff through the use of a timer. When that time expires, the speaker is permitted to complete a sentence but should make no further remarks.
Public comment submissions may not be related to personnel matters or issues pending in appeals to a local board or to the State Board.
Members of the public may submit their comments in writing to the State Board at
stateboard.msde@maryland.gov for distribution to all members. Written comments received by the State Board are not made public and are shared only with the members of the State Board.
Register to Speak