Maryland’s governor is getting involved after the state’s school board mandated how students’ criminal histories are shared.

Wes Moore this week ordered the Department of Juvenile Services to lead an agency review of how information is shared about Maryland public school students who have been accused of or convicted of violent crimes, according to a news release Friday.

The State Board decided on Tuesday that superintendents must be notified if new students have committed serious crimes while attending their former Maryland schools. Before the emergency vote, the ordinance required law enforcement to notify the school system of an arrest of one of its students for certain crimes. It allowed, but did not require, a school system to notify another school system of the violations if that student were to transfer. The change now makes it mandatory.

The rule change comes after a Howard High School student with a prior criminal record became one charged with first degree murder. Howard County Superintendent Bill Barnes said at a press conference last week that the 17-year-old had transferred from a neighboring school district, and that Howard had no record of the nature of his crimes.

The 17-year-old was under the supervision of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and was wearing an ankle monitor for a previous incident in another jurisdiction, police said. Barnes said last week that school staff knew he was receiving support from the Department of Juvenile Services but didn’t know any other details until a bond hearing last week.

The student had previously shot someone who is now paralyzed, according to the hearing. If the school system would have known about this, Barnes said last week, the 17-year-old would not have been accepted to attend Howard High.

That prompted a letter from state lawmakers sent to State Superintendent Carey Wright on Monday. The letter urged the education department to, among other things, instruct all 24 public school systems to transfer records of students with reportable offenses who move across school districts or transfer within the past year.

Wright told news media on Tuesday that all of the lawmakers’ requests were met with the ordinance update.

Barnes announced at a school board meeting Thursday that cases of about 48 currently enrolled Howard County students with DJS contact will be reviewed by school staff, according to WJZand that, among other things, a student’s family will be questioned if a reportable crime is noted.

The press release from Moore’s office said an initial review was conducted that included the state Department of Education, the Office of the Attorney General and the Maryland Center for School Safety. That review resulted in the rule change that the state school board approved on Tuesday.

The rule, which requires approval from state lawmakers before taking effect, applies to a student transferring from one Maryland public or nonpublic (an independent, publicly funded school for high-needs students) school to another, and does not target to students entering Maryland public schools from independent education programs, out-of-state programs, private schools, or others.

It only affects students who have been arrested for a “reportable offense,” including murder, arson, armed carjacking and sex crimes.

The procedures under review are not intended to punish students who are involved in justice, according to the news release, but to help provide information that may affect the safety of school communities.

The ongoing review, according to the release, will inform the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and New Best Practices, which is a state commission to review and report on juvenile services, facilities and programs in Maryland. The commission’s first meeting will be “in the coming weeks.”

“The actions we are taking today will help us make Maryland safer as we continue to work with all corners of the community to meet the needs of our schools,” Moore said in the news release. “And I will carefully study this agency review when it is completed.”

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