expand the Orange Ballot movement across Frederick County

In 2023–24, 68.2% of FCPS graduates failed their College and Career Readiness tests — but FCPS pushed them across the stage anyway. Teachers were pressured to pass students who weren’t ready. That’s not education. That’s a cover-up.

And it gets worse. The state lowered testing standards in 2022 — shorter tests, easier questions, and a system that adjusts based on how poorly students do. Even then, 2024 results were a disaster:

• 40% failed English 
• 68% failed Math
• 67% of 8th graders failed Science
   

Nearly a billion dollars in FCPS funding — and they’re failing our kids. What did County Executive Jessica Fitzwater do? She raised your property taxes to send even more money to this broken system. Zero accountability. Zero results.

Since 2018, FCPS has quietly inserted Critical Gender Theory into middle and high school Family Life classes. In 2022, they doubled down — bringing the same ideology into elementary schools through the Maryland Comprehensive Health Framework. Now, high schoolers need a full year of “Health” to graduate.

Under FCPS Policy 443, every student is asked their pronouns — and staff are required to use them in every interaction.

That’s not all. Students can:

• Choose any bathroom, locker room, or sports team
• Go on overnight trips based on gender identity
• Transition socially or medically — all without parental consent
   

Teachers and staff are barred from telling parents. You’re no longer in the loop.

The DOJ found FCPS guilty of illegally restraining and secluding 125 children with disabilities over 7,000 times — and no one was held accountable. Now, they’ve gone further. Since 2021, 12-year-olds can consent to mental health treatment alone. In 2024, FCPS launched Basecamp, a digital mental health platform with:

• Self-guided behavior tools
• Unregulated chat rooms
• Access for students as young as sixth grade — no parental notice required
   

Funded by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, Basecamp is the first step toward turning public schools into health centers that answer to the state — not to you.

Maryland law lets minors access abortions and contraceptives without telling parents. In 2024, the “Reproductive Freedom Amendment” locked it into the state constitution. Now, Maryland is a Sanctuary State for:

• Out-of-state minors seeking abortions and gender transitions
• Taxpayer-funded puberty blockers, sterilization, surgeries, and more
   

Meanwhile, cancer patients are denied fertility coverage that’s freely given for gender transitions. Where’s the justice in that?

FCPS approved a Planned Parenthood educational video — ads included — for 7th graders. School nurses? They’re employed by the Frederick County Health Department, a Planned Parenthood partner. Their influence isn’t just creeping in — it’s embedded.

Two years ago, parents challenged 35 graphic books in school libraries. Superintendent Dyson removed one — and only because it was factually wrong. The rest? Still there. Despite public outrage. Despite a Frederick News Post survey showing 70% want them gone.