HCPSS superintendent frustrated with ‘systemic gaps’ in sharing criminal records for students

HOWARD COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) – The superintendent of the Howard County Public School System is calling for changes to the way information about a student’s criminal record is provided after a student’s criminal history was not disclosed.

A 17-year-old Howard High School student was arrested at school Tuesday in connection with the murder investigation of Kendrick McClellan, who was found dead in his car in a Columbia parking lot over the weekend.

When this student was arrested, he was wearing an ankle monitor – already under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Services – and had a loaded gun in his backpack. The ankle monitor was the result of an attempted murder charge in Anne Arundel County in 2023.

FOX45 News confirmed the teen was enrolled as a student at Meade High School in Anne Arundel County until March 2023. It is unclear whether his prior criminal history has been reported to Anne Arundel County Public Schools.

“We knew nothing about the student’s history or nature of his previous alleged offenses, the Department of Child Services did not disclose any additional information to the school system,” Barnes said Thursday during a news conference. “In this case, it was complicated because the crime that was committed was committed by a student in a different school district.”

Certain crimes such as murder and attempted murder fall into the category of reportable crimes. State law requires that if a student is arrested off campus within 24 hours and charged with one of these reportable offenses, the arresting law enforcement agency must notify the school district.

On Wednesday, FOX45 News reported that Howard County Public Schools did not know about the teen’s background. On Thursday, Barnes said if he had known that, he would have made a different decision about housing the student.

“I assure our community that I would not agree to an internship at Howard High School,” Barnes said. “Good decisions are based on accurate data, and I now know that there is important data that is not available to the school system that influences our rankings.”

So even though it was a reportable crime, I have no evidence, but I give the benefit of the doubt that they followed protocol and reported it to the school that it had to be reported to. But when the student transferred to our district, there was a gap. “We had no records and were unable to obtain information from the Department of Juvenile Services,” Barnes said.

There were 93 reportable crimes in Howard County Public Schools, according to the 2022-2023 report released by the Maryland State Department of Education. According to Brain Bassett, the school district’s director of communications and engagement, there have been 30 reportable crimes for active HCPSS students as of July 1, 2024.

Now, Barnes said he is launching a review of the 48 students the district knows have either committed reportable crimes, been incarcerated or committed by DJS.

“I must ensure that each student receives the most appropriate educational placement, and I will make adjustments as necessary,” Barnes said.

This situation comes after 15-year-old Warren Grant was shot and killed in the bathroom at Joppatowne High School in September. Jaylen Prince, 16, was arrested and charged as an adult in connection with the incident. Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said Prince is no stranger to law enforcement, noting that Prince has had “ten interactions” with law enforcement in which Prince was either the victim, the witness or the suspect.

“Criminals don’t typically stay within county lines, so who knows how many contacts this young person had with police,” Sheriff Gahler said in a live interview with FOX45 Morning News in September. “Maybe someone – in the criminal justice system – could have interacted [sooner].”

If they hadn’t been handcuffed and put this boy on a different path than the one now considered a murdered defendant, Sheriff Gahler said.

After the Joppatowne shooting, Amy Adams of the Baltimore County Parent and Student Coalition sent a letter to Baltimore County House members calling for action on policies and procedures for communicating with parents and other school leaders.

“It just seems like there are a lot of systems that have failed in this situation,” Adams said Thursday.

The letter said Gov. Wes Moore’s “promise to address youth gun violence” has not resulted in concrete action, “leaving us with empty words and a growing corporate nation.”

“We can no longer afford to turn our eyes away from this crisis. Our children deserve real solutions, not meaningless promises,” the letter continued.

Adams said lawmakers have not yet responded to the letter. But efforts to push school board members to talk to the delegation about addressing those communication gaps — particularly before the start of the General Session in January — remain a priority, Adams said.

“We want our children to feel safe at school,” she said. “We want our teachers to be safe in school and to learn and focus on learning.”

Superintendent Barnes said he is now focused on closing the obvious gap in the system and noted that he is grateful the situation in his district is not worse.

“I am frustrated that there are systemic gaps that fortunately in this case resulted in only one student possessing a loaded gun in school and not using a loaded gun in school,” Barnes said.

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