The Board of Education of St. Mary’s County announces the reappointment of Dr. Michael J. Martirano to a third term as Superintendent of Schools by unanimous decision effective July 1, 2013.  Dr. Martirano’s current four-year contract expires on June 30, 2013.  As an incumbent superintendent, the Board is required to publicly act to reappoint Dr. Martirano to a new term by March 1 of the final year of his contract in accordance with Maryland public education law.

Dr. Martirano has served as Superintendent of Schools for St. Mary’s County since July 2005 and this appointment makes him the longest serving superintendent in St. Mary’s County since 1978.  During his tenure, Dr. Martirano has charted a course to excellence that is demonstrated by an unwavering support of children and academic achievements:

  • Increases in the Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate – rising over 4 percent in 2012, resulting in an 87.7 percent for the county with Great Mills High School showing the most significant gain in 2012 of over 6 percent in one year

  • Increases on the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) from 2005 to 2012, with multiple grades showing double digit increases and scores well above Maryland State average on both Reading and Mathematics

  • Increases to the average score on the SAT for St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) students to 1539 – well above the national and state average – all while increasing participation

  • Increases in the number of SMCPS public high school students taking challenging Advanced Placement classes – with 1746 exams taken in 2012 and two-thirds of all students scoring a three or better

  • Newsweek’s Challenge Index listed all three comprehensive high schools on its America’s Best High Schools in its most recent publication – placing SMCPS in the top 3 percent nationwide for the number of students taking AP exams. 

  • 100 percent of graduating seniors meeting the requirement for High School Assessments (HSA), with 94.3 percent passing all tests in 2012

  • SMCPS Class of 2012 offered more than $20 million in scholarships

These successes came from a systematic approach to encourage excellence, raise expectations, support innovation, and efficiently allocate available resources.  Dr. Martirano has successfully led the school system through a period of noteworthy national, state and local transitions and initiatives in public education, and challenges to educational funding during recessionary times:

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