FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — November 14, 2025
Re: Multiple Maryland Counties Release Elementary Code W50 Data, Revealing Hidden Crisis

Maryland — Newly released public records from Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, and Frederick County reveal a clear and troubling pattern: elementary-age children are quietly disappearing from Maryland public schools with no confirmed transfer, re-enrollment, or verified address.

These children are classified under withdrawal code W50, the state’s designation for students who simply vanish from school rolls.

For years, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has only published W50 data for grades 7 through 12, where 10,997 students went missing last year alone — an increase of roughly 1,000 more students every year.

But new elementary-level data obtained via the Public Information Act (PIA) now confirms the crisis extends far beyond teenagers.

County Data Summary (Grades K–6, Code W50)

Statewide Context: A Systemic Failure

While MSDE reports 10,997 missing students in grades 7–12, those numbers are only part of the story.
Maryland does not publicly report W50 numbers for elementary grades, where children are at the highest risk of maltreatment or death.

Yet county-level disclosures now show:

• Thousands of younger children are disappearing each year, with no statewide tracking mechanism.
• Schools hold the full investigative burden despite having no law enforcement authority.
• CPS does not investigate Code W50 cases because Maryland law defines the issue only as “truancy,” not neglect.
• No agency—not MSDE, not DSS, not CPS—takes responsibility once a child disappears.

In multiple counties, the number of missing elementary children rises sharply year after year, with no public alerts, no wellness checks, and no state-level response.

A Public Safety Emergency, Not a Budget Footnote

While media coverage has focused on “wasted tax dollars” related to lost enrollment funding, the human crisis has been ignored.
Children designated as W50 are:

• Not in school
• Not being seen by mandatory reporters
• Often homeless or transient
• Vulnerable to abuse, neglect, trafficking, or death

As one veteran Maryland teacher testified, “We have kids who disappear for 2–3 years and then reappear, placed in an age-appropriate grade as if nothing happened.”

Call for Legislative Action

Advocates are calling for Maryland to enact a new statewide law requiring that:

1. Schools report all W50 cases directly to law enforcement, not only to internal staff.
2. Law enforcement be authorized to perform wellness checks and cross-state searches when no local address is found.
3. Runaways be separated from W50 data, with verified police reports.
4. MSDE publish W50 data for ALL grades (K–12) for transparency and oversight.

Maryland is bordered by four states; when families move or hide across state lines, only law enforcement—not schools—can investigate.

Until these statutory gaps are closed, thousands of children will continue to fall off the radar each year with no accountability.