Around Maryland

Montgomery County’s housing commission is free to sell land containing a historic Black cemetery without first getting a court’s approval, Maryland’s second-highest court ruled this week. The decision is a blow to the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition, which sought to prevent a developer from buying an apartment complex on the land.

The school system will accept a grant to expand prekindergarten despite concerns from the Worcester County Commissioners. Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) officials said this week the school system would accept a $600,000 Pre-K expansion grant. The decision comes after the commissioners declined to offer concurrence regarding the Pre-K3 funding.

The Frederick County Board of Education on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a $910 million operating budget for fiscal year 2024. The spending plan represents a 10.6% increase over the fiscal 2023 budget. It includes a salary resource pool that will equate to roughly 6% raises for all benefited employees.

The Maryland State Board of Education sided with Baltimore City Public Schools against seven charter school operators in a dispute over new funding from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan. In Baltimore City, the school district’s board of commissioners created a funding formula that allocates 75% of Blueprint funding directly to all public schools, a level set by state law.

With recreational cannabis set to be legalized in Maryland starting Saturday, state rules around whether and how police officers can use the substance while actively employed or before they are recruited are being called into question. The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #3 on Wednesday made its position official: The Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions, which has wide latitude to issue directives around drug testing and recruitment policies, should order police agencies around the state to stop barring recruits with a history of cannabis use and discontinue “random” drug screenings for police officers.

The city of Frederick began work last week on a stream restoration project at Monocacy Village Park. The project, which is expected to be completed in summer 2024 according to a city news release, is currently in its assessment stage. Contractors are surveying the area around the stream to determine how the plans for the stream's design should proceed, said Jenny Willoughby, the city's sustainability manager.

Maryland may be later than many other states in legalizing cannabis, but those who wrote the state’s laws hope they’ve avoided the problems that have plagued other states: Lack of product, lack of diversity in the industry, and taxes so high that people kept buying on the black market. Maryland Del. C.T. Wilson will be watching Saturday’s rollout of recreational sales closely.

Maryland's state school superintendent hopes to move the academic needle this summer for low-performing schools. The majority of those failing schools are in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. That's where the superintendent plans to direct his focus. "This is my administration's responsibility and our chance to revamp school improvement," said Mohammed Choudhury. At Tuesday's State Board of Education meeting, Choudhury suggested the obstacles to learning aren't just about money.