September 17, 2026
Dr. Micah Stauffer, superintendent of the Wicomimo County Public Schools, gave us an update tonight on the progress being made in our government schools.
Dr. Stauffer, in his second term as head of the school system, spoke of some of the challenges facing the schools. Student population has risen considerably in recent years with about 15,700 students. Sixty five percent qualified for free meals and that means all students now qualify for free meals. That is the same percentage of non-white student. There are 2,000 English as a Second Language students with the primarily used languages being English, Hatian, Spanish, and Arabic.
In his first year as head of the school system in 2022, there was a great deal of chronic absenteeism. That number has declined. Part of the problem has been the movement of students among county schools because of housing issues. Twenty percent of the students change schools annually placing Wicomico County second in the state of Maryland, trailing only Baltimore City.
Some of the positives in Dr. Stauffer's message tonight include improvements in student proficiency in mathematics and reading, a graduation rate in the 84 to 87% range, and a reduction of violence in the middle and high schools.
Dr. Stauffer entitled his presentation Four Years of Progress: Building What's Next. Two members of our Rotary Club of Salisbury are members of the Wicomico Cutny Board of Education...Allen Brown and David Plotts.