Maryland school tip line law

Does Maryland require a school tip line?

Yes. Since 2026, state law requires the Maryland Center for School Safety (MCSS) to develop and administer an anonymous reporting system. Beginning July 1, 2027, each local school system must participate in that system, unless it opts out. A local school system may opt out only if, on or before July 1, 2027, it operates and makes available to the public a substantially similar reporting system. A school system that opts out must give the Center written notice on or before December 1, 2026.

What must the system do?

It must take in reports of school or student safety concerns in a way that keeps the reporter anonymous. It must provide a way to forward reported information to school officials or other appropriate response staff. The Center must develop operational guidelines and procedures for the system. The Center must provide training sessions for school staff on using the system. Running the system is now one of the Center's listed statutory duties.

What is the state's system called?

Before the 2026 law, MCSS already ran Safe Schools Maryland (SSMD), a free anonymous reporting system open to students, staff, parents and the public, including for mental health concerns. MCSS says SSMD is operated by MCSS and made available to all Maryland schools. Tips can be made to SSMD by phone at 1-833-MD-B-SAFE (1-833-632-7233).

Who is covered?

The participation duty in the law applies to each local school system. According to the MCSS manual, which is guidance and not law, approved Pre-K–12 non-public schools may voluntarily join SSMD through a participation agreement.

How are tips handled and answered?

These details come from MCSS's 2026 operating manual, which is guidance and not law. According to the manual, SSMD operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for public and non-public Pre-K through grade 12 schools. A trained operator at the Maryland Joint Operations Center answers calls live, with staff provided by the Maryland Department of Emergency Management. Operators answer calls within 3 to 5 rings and open app and web submissions within 10 minutes. Imminent life-safety threats go immediately to local 9-1-1 call centers and MCAC, followed by phone outreach to school contacts. For non-life-safety tips received after hours, school contacts must begin evaluating them within 2 hours of the start of the next school business day. School contacts must not leave an active tip without a status update for more than 14 calendar days, and they work to close all tips by June 30 of each school year. Newly assigned district and school contacts must finish MCSS training within 60 calendar days, or 90 days if assigned in summer.

Are tips kept confidential?

Under Maryland's Public Information Act, a records custodian must deny inspection of information and materials related to the anonymous reporting system. That denial list is mandatory, subject to the exceptions in the next subsection. Those exceptions, which let named agencies inspect some protected records, do not list anonymous reporting system materials. According to the MCSS manual, call audio is not recorded and caller identification data is not kept. The manual says tipster IP addresses are kept for 90 days and released only on a court order, a warrant, or an exigent life-safety request that MCSS approves. An MCSS data privacy report (guidance) says tip information goes only to active school safety emergency responders who need to know it.

What about false reports?

The section creating the system sets no penalty for false reports. Under the MCSS manual, a tip is labeled false or malicious only when a local investigation finds clear evidence it was made up on purpose. This is an internal label, not a legal penalty. Under general Maryland criminal law, not specific to tip lines, a violation of the false-report statute is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both. Knowingly threatening a crime of violence that would put five or more people at substantial risk of death or serious injury is prohibited. That threat of mass violence is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

Does the law require data reporting?

The section creating the system sets no data-reporting duty for the Center or for local school systems. According to the MCSS manual, MCSS public data releases are statewide totals only, covering categories with more than ten tips.

How is it funded?

The section creating the system makes no appropriation and sets no funding for it. The Governor must budget at least $2,000,000 a year for the ongoing operation of MCSS as a whole, not the tip line specifically. Safe Schools Fund grants to local school systems may be used for setting up formal and anonymous ways to report safety concerns. The legislature's fiscal analysts found no state fiscal effect, because the bill codifies existing practice. They found no local fiscal effect because local school systems already comply.

When did it pass?

The law is HB 326 of 2026, enacted as Chapter 648. The Governor approved it on May 26, 2026, and it took effect July 1, 2026. An earlier bill, the 2019 Safe Schools Maryland Act (SB 165), would have set up an anonymous reporting program but was not enacted. The MCSS regulations (COMAR Title 14, Subtitle 40) have six chapters, and none covers an anonymous reporting system.