Executive Summary

Statewide, Maryland's implementation of the Governance and Accountability pillar is rated Meets. Twenty of 24 districts (83%) are on track, three districts (Caroline, Queen Anne's, and Worcester Counties) are Approaching, and one district (Prince George's County) Does Not Meet expectations. No district currently Exceeds. The foundation is broadly in place: the AIB approved all seven 2024 plan components for the districts profiled in this report, releasing withheld FY25 Blueprint funds.^[1]

Districts have built durable governance structures. Examples include pillar-aligned steering committees and leadership teams, such as Harford County's committees co-chaired by HCPS and community leaders with 160+ participants,^[77] and Charles County's expansion from five to eight steering committees after stakeholder feedback.^[29] Several districts also invested in school-level financial tracking, including Washington County's expansion of its accounting codes from roughly 5,000 to 70,000^[439] and Cecil County's project-numbered Blueprint accounts that trace budgets to school location.^[271] Washington County also exceeded the aggregate minimum funding level for all eight program categories in FY25.^[439]