ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Republican Delegate and Democratic Senator are working together to give Baltimore County's inspector general the power to investigate the school system.
Delegate Ryan Nawrocki and Senator Carl Jackson are pushing legislation that would allow the Baltimore County Council to grant investigative authority over Baltimore County Public Schools to the inspector general.
"I received a very loud and clear request from the Baltimore County Council last year, they passed a resolution six to one a huge bipartisan majority asking for this ability," Nawrocki said.
Bipartisan push seeks inspector general oversight of Baltimore County schools
"I think the concern is that whenever the investigations are done they're not being made public and they're not transparent and so we don't know what we really don't know," Jackson said.
The lawmakers are making their case to fellow Baltimore County representatives in the state legislature. Typically on legislation that only impacts one county, other lawmakers defer to the people representing that area.
Jackson emphasized the bill is not suggesting wrongdoing is currently occurring within the school system.
"We're not saying that there's wrongdoing occurring, we're not saying that employees are doing the wrong things, but we do want to create a space and an opportunity for complaints to be looked at independently of BCPS," Jackson said.
The push for oversight comes as the school system manages a massive budget.
"The school budget is more than 50% of the Baltimore County budget it's like $2.7 billion, it is an absolutely massive budget and right now the inspector general has no authority to look at anything inside the school system," Nawrocki said.
The bill has received support from the county council. If passed, it would enable the council to give the inspector general investigative power over the school system.
"I think it is very reasonable to have additional oversight and transparency in that process," Nawrocki said.
Baltimore County Public Schools declined to comment on the legislation at this time.
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
