Maryland: $2.5M for "behavioral health school"; 'need is real and urgent'

Mar 27, 2026, Budget clears MD Senate with boost for Shore special education school

The Maryland Senate has approved a $1.8 billion fiscal year 2027 Capital budget which includes funding for several Lower Eastern Shore priorities, including $2.5 million for a Kennedy Krieger Eastern Shore behavioral health school in Wicomico County.

For the past three years, the Healthy Minds for Shore consortium, the Greater Salisbury Committee, Wicomico County Public Schools and other major Eastern Shore stakeholders and members of the Eastern Shore Delegation have been advocating for a special education facility to serve the students of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

There are 70 MANSEF (Maryland Association of Nonpublic Schools Special Education Facilities) in the state of Maryland and only one of them – The Benedictine School – is located on the Eastern Shore.

“The need for this behavioral health facility is real and urgent, and I am very grateful that Senate leadership included this Shore priority in this year’s capital budget. It will benefit both the students with the greatest mental health needs who cannot be served in the public schools and students and families statewide as it will allow teachers and school personnel to focus on the students in their classrooms,” said Sen. Mary Beth Carozza, R-38, who made the official funding request for the Senate capital budget.

Micah Stauffer, superintendent of Wicomico County Public Schools, consistently has noted the critical gap in the Lower Shore’s continuum of special education services and has been calling on the Eastern Shore Delegation and the Maryland General Assembly to prioritize the development of a Lower Shore MANSEF school as a state capital priority.