Executive Summary

St. Mary's County Public Schools (SMCPS) shows strong Blueprint implementation overall, with Pillar 2 (High Quality & Diverse Teachers and Leaders) rated Exceeds, Pillars 3, 4, and 5 rated Meets, and Pillar 1 (Early Childhood Education) rated Approaching. National Board Certification achievers grew from 3 in 2021-2022 to 45 in 2025-2026, teacher vacancies fell from 35 in 2023-2024 to 10, and the minimum teacher salary reached $61,710 in SY26, above the $60,000 requirement.^[1] The district also became home to Maryland's first Registered Teacher Apprentice program.^[2]

Student outcomes are improving in several areas. Grades 3-8 ELA proficiency rose from 50.4% in 2021-2022 to 56.5% in 2025-2026, and Grades 3-8 math proficiency rose from 32.4% to 38.3%.^[1] Community school 3-8 ELA proficiency climbed from 16% to 35.7% and math from 9.1% to 22.4%.^[1] Kindergarten readiness reached 51.3% in 2024, a 7.1 percentage point gain in one year.^[1] On governance, the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) approved all seven 2024 plan components on October 24, 2024, and SMCPS budgeted 9 of 9 Minimum School Funding programs for FY26.^[1]

Key challenges remain. Pre-K enrollment fell from 631 in 2022-2023 to 492 in 2025-2026, there is no private Pre-K enrollment, and no 3-year-old full-day enrollment since SY23-24.^[1] Teacher retention of 73.3% is below the 74.7% target, Grade 5 math proficiency slipped to 37.3%, and chronic absenteeism stands at 27.3% districtwide and 32.0% in community schools.^[1] A projected $3.4M decline in three state aid programs by FY29, along with the sunset of grant funding for several supports, makes sustainability planning a priority.^[1]