BOARD OF EDUCATION

Educational matters that affect Queen Anne's County come under the control of the Board of Education (Code Education Article, secs. 4-101 through 4-126).

The Board is composed of seven members. Five are elected by the voters to four-year terms (Code Election Law Article, secs. 8-801 through 8-806). Chosen by students at Kent Island High School and at Queen Anne's County High School, two nonvoting student members serve one-year terms (Code Education Article, secs. 3-101 through 3-105; 3-10A-01 through 3-10A-04).

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The Queen Anne's County Public School System is governed by the County Board of Education (Code Education Article, secs. 4-101 through 4-126). In addition, through the review and approval of the annual operating and capital budgets, Queen Anne's County government exercises authority over the County Public Schools. Moreover, through the establishment and monitoring of various financial and academic policies and regulations, the State Department of Education also has considerable oversight of county public schools. Indeed, under Maryland law, the State Department of Education works with county public schools to comply with requirements and mandates of federal law.

In the Queen Anne's County Public School System are fifteen schools: 2 high schools, 4 middle schools, 8 elementary schools, and 1 alternative education program. In Fiscal Year 2025, some 7,478 students were enrolled in County public schools.

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
The Superintendent of Schools administers the Queen Anne's County Public School System, and serves as executive officer, secretary, and treasurer of the Board of Education (Code Education Article, secs. 4-102; 4-201 through 4-206).

With the approval of the State Superintendent of Schools, the Board of Education appoints the Superintendent of Schools to four-year terms.

CHESAPEAKE COLLEGE

On December 22, 1965, Chesapeake College was chartered as Maryland's first regional community college. It opened for classes in September 1967 at Queen Anne's County High School in Centreville. In September 1968, the College began moving to its present location at Wye Mills.

A two-year college, Chesapeake College serves the residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot counties. Based at its Wye Mills campus in Queen Anne's County, the College has centers at Cambridge and Easton, and offers courses at local schools and community centers throughout the upper Eastern Shore of Maryland (Code Education Article, secs. 16-201 through 16-203).

Todd Performing Arts Center, Chesapeake College, Wye Mills, Maryland, October 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

BOARD OF COLLEGE TRUSTEES

The Board consists of ten members: two from each supporting county. They are appointed to five-year terms by the Governor with House of Delegates advice and consent. The President of Chesapeake College serves as secretary/treasurer to the Board (Code Education Article, sec. 16-406).

FREE LIBRARY

Formed in February 1877, the Public Library Association organized at Centreville Town Hall as the Circulating Library of Queen Anne's County, and functioned until 1880. In June 1909, the Queen Anne's County Free Library was founded as the Centreville Free Library and housed in a dry goods store. By January 1969, the Free Library at its present site was dedicated at Centreville.

The Free Library is governed by Maryland statute and the Library's Charter and By Laws (Code Education Article, secs. 23-401 through 23-410).

BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES

Self-perpetuating, the Board's ten to fourteen members are elected by the Board of Library Trustees to three-year terms. Every two years, the Board chooses the President (Code Education Article, secs. 23-401; 23-403 through 23-407; Library By Laws, Art. III).

CENTREVILLE LIBRARY
121 South Commerce St., Centreville, MD 21617 – 1115

The main branch of the Queen Anne's County Free Library is in Centreville.

KENT ISLAND LIBRARY
200 Library Circle, Stevensville, MD 21666 – 4026

The Kent Island Branch Library opened in 1989.

SUDLERSVILLE MEMORIAL LIBRARY

105 West Main St., Sudlersville, MD 21668

The Sudlersville Memorial Library is a municipal public library now independent of the Queen Anne's County Free Library.

At Sudlersville, the Library first started as Harmony Lodge Library housed in the Cox Building or Sudlersville Town Hall. In 1923, it relocated to the Roe Building and in 1947 to its present site at the former Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church South.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Library was a branch of the Queen Anne's County Free Library, but when the County Free Library decided to close the Sudlersville branch, citizens formed a Sudlersville Library Board to continue its operation. In July 1973, the Town of Sudlersville took on responsibility for Sudlersville Memorial Library as an independent unit separate from the County Free Library.

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QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

EDUCATION