Around Maryland

Test scores for Maryland students in grades 3 to 8 show English proficiency has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, while math scores for 2023 have shown some improvement and science scores have declined, state education officials say. The Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program tests are administered annually in public schools to assist educators in understanding student progression so that they can better tailor their methods of instruction.

Students at five Baltimore County middle schools will soon be able to call a hotline for mental health services, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said at a news conference Tuesday. The 24/7 hotline, called the Cigna Student Support Line, is expected to launch later this month and be available for students at Franklin Middle School in Reisterstown, General John Stricker Middle School in Dundalk, Northwest Academy of Health Sciences in Pikesville, Perry Hall Middle School in Nottingham and Stemmers Run Middle School in Essex.

A state board tasked with controlling prescription drug prices for Maryland workers said that they are likely to identify the first set of medications for cost reduction efforts in early next year, and the panel is finalizing procedures in order to get their work underway. The Prescription Drug Affordability Board put the final stamp on two rules outlining the initial procedures to start evaluating which drugs are not affordable for state workers during a virtual meeting Monday.

The Frederick County government is partnering with nonprofits The Safe Ride Foundation and the United Way of Frederick County to establish an affordable ride program for residents without access to a car. The new program, Rides for Good, was announced at a briefing on Tuesday. It is set to launch on Feb. 1. County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said the goal of the program is to provide another option when public transportation does not suffice, such as during off hours or when people are traveling between jurisdictions.

The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday approved an increase in funding for security grants for nonprofits and religious institutions that may be susceptible to hate crimes in wake of the Israel-Hamas war. The council voted unanimously to add $311,700 to bolster the existing program, the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The funds are coming from undesignated reserves in the county’s budget. The grants allow organizations to pay for security guards, cameras and other safety measures.

The town’s strategic planning process will continue but not until January, officials decided this week. On Monday, the Berlin Town Council voted 3-2 to continue working with Salisbury University’s Business, Economic and Community Outreach Network (BEACON) for phase two of the town’s strategic plan. Concerns about limited participation from residents so far, however, prompted officials to delay public input sessions until January.

Progress has been slow in the quest to create an ideal environment for captive dolphins Baltimore is home to a shrinking population of about 575,000 humans and a growing population of six bottlenose dolphins — five of them born and raised at the National Aquarium in the Inner Harbor. However, not long after the birth of the youngest, Bayley, the Aquarium decided to stop breeding dolphins. Nor does it plan to expand the pod by accepting captured dolphins or those from other facilities. Which means these six will be the last dolphins to live in Baltimore.

This summer’s oxygen-poor “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay was the smallest since scientists started monitoring it in 1985, according to estimates by researchers in Maryland and Virginia. The good news for the bay could reflect the lower-than-average rainfall in the bay watershed this year, experts said. Rainwater carries pollutants into the Chesapeake, inundating the estuary with nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous from farm fields, lawns and city streets, which trigger the growth of algae blooms that draw oxygen from the water as they decompose, creating the dead zones.