After initially agreeing to send hundreds of millions in additional funding to the state's 100 poorest school districts, state lawmakers decided to reroute that money to fund school construction projects as a compromise when Democrats and Republicans were finalizing the remaining parts of the budget in December.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey told board members in December that they couldn't outright ban cell phones from schools, but he would like to give some additional guidance to districts.

"No child in this country should go hungry," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview with The Associated Press. "They certainly shouldn't go hungry because they lose access to nutritious school meals during the summer months."

Myriam Rogers' first budget request as superintendent comes as Maryland prepares for a slowing economy and federal coronavirus pandemic funding is set to expire this year.