LA PLATA — Charles County middle and high school students are clearing the bar to play sports and join clubs at noticeably higher rates since the school board loosened its eligibility rules, and the biggest jumps came among students from low-income families and those still learning English, according to a report the Board of Education will hear Tuesday.
The extracurricular eligibility report, prepared for the board’s Nov. 10 meeting by Vice Chairperson Samichie K. Thomas and Richard Pauole, director of student activities, athletics and aquatics, tracks Board Policy 6431 over five school years. Eligibility among students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals rose from 38% to 52%. Among multilingual learners, it climbed from 28% to 39%.
The numbers matter because the board is being asked, again, whether the rules are right. The report closes with two questions for members: whether they are satisfied with the changes and their effect on student outcomes, and whether they want further adjustments. The last revision, in June 2024, passed on a 6-2 vote, and the report notes the superintendent’s standing recommendation since 2022 has been looser still: a 2.0 grade-point average, no more than one failing grade and no attendance requirement.
Three versions of the rules in four years
Before the 2022-23 school year, Charles students needed a 2.25 GPA, no failing grade in any quarter and good attendance to take part in athletics and activities. That fall, the board dropped the GPA floor to 2.0. The report credits that change with only about a 2% increase in eligibility.
The bigger shift came with the 2024 revision. A failing grade in the fourth quarter no longer sidelines a student for fall sports if the final grade in the course is passing, and students can win back eligibility by passing a summer make-up course in the same subject. The 2.0 GPA, the ban on failing grades in the first three quarters and the limit of fewer than five absences in the prior quarter stayed in place. According to the report, that revision produced the largest gain, about 8 percentage points.
The school system has been adjusting these rules for years. In 2018, the board voted to treat rising freshmen as automatically eligible for their first semester, a provision that remains in the current policy.
Who gained, and who didn’t
The report compares eligibility at the end of each school year from 2021-22 through 2025-26. Most groups moved up:
- Male students: 49% to 62%
- Female students: 59% to 65%
- Black students: 50% to 60%
- White students: 64% to 78%
- Hispanic students: 44% to 56%
- Students of two or more races: 57% to 68%
- Asian students: 81% to 84%
- Special education students: up 10 percentage points from the baseline
Two small groups went the other way. Eligibility among American Indian and Alaska Native students fell from 62% to 57%, and the rate for Pacific Islander students in 2025-26 was 6 points below 2021-22 and 13 points below its five-year high of 82%. The report does not explain those declines.
Even after the gains, the figures show a large share of students still ineligible. Among male students and Black students, roughly four in 10 did not meet the standard at the end of last school year. The report also includes a ranking of Maryland’s 24 school systems from most to least stringent, comparing 2022-23 with 2025-26, presented as a chart without accompanying figures in the text.
Thomas, who chairs the board’s strategic planning subcommittee, is one of four candidates for two District 1 seats on the board. She ran fourth in unofficial returns, which are not final while mail-in ballots are still being counted.
Reading, math and the youngest learners
The board will also get a district assessments update on fall i-Ready and Kindergarten Readiness Assessment results from Kevin Lowndes, chief of teaching and learning; Dr. McKenna Lewis, director of elementary education; and Glymont Principal Orlena Whatley and Assistant Principal Beth Hancock. The slides compare fall reading and math placements for grades one through eight across three years, with roughly 1,700 to 2,100 students tested per grade.
The presentation is candid about where the system is starting. Of the more than 5,600 students who received academic intervention last year, it says, the work centered on foundational skills. Only three of 26 school leaders hold an early childhood certification, and until last year the district had no norm-referenced data for prekindergarten and kindergarten students. The central office plans to push schools from planning strong lessons to rehearsing and delivering them, with specialists assigned to two to four schools each.
The update follows the state’s 2026 report card, on which six Charles schools gained a star.
Vans, the Blueprint and Annapolis
Mike Heim, chief of operations and supporting services, is scheduled to report on using vans to carry students. The attachment is a set of alternative school vehicle procedures for 2026-27, built on state transportation regulations. The vehicles would weigh less than 10,000 pounds and carry no more than 10 passengers plus the driver. Drivers must be at least 21, carry no more than two points on their driving records, pass a drug test, get a yearly physical and complete at least five hours of training before driving, plus two hours of defensive-driving instruction each year.
Under the procedures, the vans could take students to and from public and nonpublic schools and on specialized trips, and could carry students with special needs only in limited cases set by the transportation director and in line with each student’s individualized education program. The posted materials do not say how many vans the system intends to use, which routes they would serve or what they would cost. The report comes as the school system continues to manage its bus operations, which John Kraft now leads.
Chris Mulhollan, director of district innovation, will give a Blueprint for Maryland’s Future update. No materials were posted as of Thursday. The state’s education reform law has driven much of the system’s recent spending decisions, from the county’s $644 million fiscal 2027 budget to the board’s June vote on raises and mandatory costs and its plan to carry $1.9 million forward for repairs and community schools programs.
The only policy-level action item is the board’s 2027 legislative positions, which set the stances the board will press when the General Assembly convenes in January. A draft was not posted with the agenda. The board will also vote on minutes and personnel.
How to weigh in
The meeting begins at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, 5980 Radio Station Road in La Plata, after an 11 a.m. closed session. Recognitions are set for 4 p.m. and public forum for 6 p.m. Speakers who want to comment virtually must register by 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9. In-person speakers sign up outside the boardroom by 6 p.m. on the day of the meeting. The full agenda is posted on BoardDocs.
Charles County Public Schools serves 27,904 students in 38 schools.
