Public Schools - Individuals With Disabilities - Accessibility and Emergency Planning
HB 311 amends Maryland’s Education Article provisions governing local school safety evaluations and emergency planning for public schools. The bill requires each local school system, as part of its regular safety evaluation, to identify accessibility issues affecting individuals with disabilities and to consider those issues alongside other physical safety concerns. It also requires emergency plans to include accommodations for students with disabilities during emergency events and to be updated to reflect any weaknesses identified in annual reporting.
The bill further expands the required annual report submitted by each local school system to the Center by adding a specific category for instances in which a public school facility became inaccessible for a student with a disability in a way that could impede evacuation or emergency response. The report must also continue to include information on threats, lockdowns, evacuations, emergency responses, failures of emergency plans, and hours spent in emergencies or drills. The act takes effect July 1, 2026.
HB 311 directly amends § 7-1510 of the Education Article to make disability accessibility an explicit component of school safety evaluations and emergency planning. It also adds a new reporting obligation concerning accessibility-related barriers during emergencies and makes the annual report confidential, exempt from disclosure under the Maryland Public Information Act, except that it may be disclosed to a member of the General Assembly upon request. The bill affects local school systems, designated safety coordinators, and the Center that reviews school safety materials.
The available record shows no committee transcript and no recorded votes, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to indicate divided sentiment. Based on the enacted text, the bill appears to have been treated as a school safety and disability-access measure with a protective, compliance-oriented purpose. Its enactment as Chapter 666 suggests it received sufficient support to pass and be signed into law.
The main policy tension in the bill is between transparency and confidentiality. The legislation expands reporting on emergency and accessibility failures, but then makes the annual report confidential and not subject to public inspection under the Maryland Public Information Act, limiting disclosure to legislators on request. Another potential point of concern is the operational burden on local school systems, which must identify accessibility issues, update emergency plans, and correct weaknesses identified in the reports. No specific opposition or sponsor-side objections are documented in the provided materials.