Favorable
Committee: Appropriations
HB0390 (R00A03.07)
The Maryland Catholic Conference offers this testimony in support of the Nonpublic School Health & Security Program allocation included in the proposed FY27 Operating Budget.
The Conference represents the public policy interests of the three (arch)dioceses serving Maryland, the Archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, which together encompass over one million Marylanders. We offer this testimony on behalf of the families of approximately 50,000 students served by over 150 PreK-12 Catholic schools in Maryland, as well as the families of 138,000+ students attending Maryland’s nonpublic schools as a whole.
The Nonpublic School Health & Security Program was created three years ago to protect students through school security, such as security personnel and intruder detection systems. The program also helps students to receive a variety of student health services, such as nurses and counseling. This program benefits the students at approximately 150 schools and is limited to students who attend schools that charge a tuition lower than the state per pupil average and have low-income BOOST Scholarship recipient students.
This program makes for a safer and healthier school day for tens of thousands of children. Many of the schools with lower-income student enrollments would not have been able to complete the security upgrades or afford a school nurse without this funding. The program is making an impact statewide and is highly popular with administrators in every jurisdiction.
The safety of students in every school in Maryland should be a paramount consideration. We thank the State of Maryland for partnering with our Catholic schools in making for an even safer environment for their children to learn in. Our schools are grateful to the General Assembly for its continued support for nonpublic schools, which educate one in every nine Maryland students. We are also grateful to the administrators at the Maryland State Department of Education, who dedicate themselves in service to our schools to ensure that this and other programs operate successfully.
We respectfully request your continued support for $2.5 million for the Nonpublic Student Health and Safety Program.