School districts across Maryland should allow the state’s 110,000 disabled students to try out for school sports and create teams, under a policy the state Board of Education adopted Tuesday.

“Students who participate in an inclusive setting get jobs and integrate much better into society,” said Diane McComb, deputy secretary for the Maryland Department of Disabilities.

By adopting the policy, the board laid the groundwork for the creation of statewide regulations for the participation of physically disabled students in sports.

Baltimore and Harford counties have “exemplary” disabled-student sports programs, but the state wants all its school systems to submit reports on their programs, said Carol Ann Baglin, assistant state superintendent for special education.

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To avoid creating disadvantages between students, disabled students can compete alongside other students but are scored differently, said Edward Sparks, director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association.

Wheelchair athlete and world-record holder Tatyana McFadden, a senior at Atholton High School in Columbia, welcomed the board’s policy. But her passion for sports has clashed with coaches’ unwillingness to let her participate.

She sued state education officials because she wanted to be able to compete with schools across the state.

While she earns points in local meets for her school’s team in a deal brokered with Howard County schools, a federal judge ruled that school officials must find a scoring system that places disabled and nondisabled student athletes at parity before disabled athletes can earn points at state and regional competitions.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com