SB 99 (Crossover) Open Meetings Act - County Boards of Education - Enhanced Requirements (Local Boards of Education Transparency Act)

BILL: SB 99

TITLE: Open Meetings Act - County Boards of Education -

Enhanced Requirements (Local Boards of Education

Transparency Act)

DATE: April 01, 2026

POSITION: Favorable

COMMITTEE: House Ways & Means Committee

CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM

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The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four local school superintendents, supports Senate Bill 99.

This bill makes local boards of education and the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners subject to enhanced requirements under the Open Meetings Act. Specifically, it requires each local board of education and the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners to make publicly available on its website the agenda and minutes of each meeting and a live video stream of each portion of a meeting held in open session. The bill also requires each local board of education and the Baltimore City board of School Commissioners to maintain on its website a complete and unedited archived video recording (with certain exceptions) of each open meeting where video streaming was made available for a minimum of five years after the date of the meeting. 

PSSAM is supportive of the bill and values expanding transparency and public access to school board meetings. Earlier in the session, PSSAM supported Senate Bill 99 (HB 154) with amendments that have now been incorporated into this version of the bill, and we thank the sponsors and committees for their collaboration.

For these reasons, PSSAM supports Senate Bill 99 and respectfully requests a favorable report.