Around Maryland

Amid a rise in incidents of hate bias, racism, antisemitism and LGBTQ+ prejudice across Montgomery County Public Schools in recent months, the district is hosting a virtual event at Rockville High on April 27 where Superintendent Monifa McKnight will announce new “districtwide actions in response,” according to a press release.

Two institutions of higher learning in Maryland have partnered in hopes of addressing the state's nursing shortage. Notre Dame of Maryland University signed an agreement Tuesday to make it easier for students at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg to enroll in the former's fast-track nursing program. Any student who earned a bachelor's degree in health sciences at Mount St. Mary's can now earn their second bachelor of science in nursing degree at Notre Dame of Maryland in fewer than 15 months.

Some schools in the Baltimore region are ending the academic year earlier than originally scheduled after a mild winter led to fewer inclement weather closures than expected. Public school systems in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Carroll and Harford counties have announced an earlier end to the school year.

All stations on the Baltimore City Metro Subway system will temporarily close for an entire weekend. The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration will close all stations on the Metro Subway system beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, May 5, and will reopen them at 5 a.m. Monday, May 8.

Montgomery Parks, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, received $5.495 million in capital funding for 13 projects from the state of Maryland during the 2023 legislative session. The funding will be used towards park projects in six legislative districts in Montgomery County that include trail and bridge projects, playground and athletic field improvements, sports court and skatepark amenities, community garden and picnic facilities, environmental restoration, and ADA enhancements.

When Prince George’s County Schools CEO Monica Goldson announced back in January that she was tired of a dysfunctional school board and retiring, it touched off a search process laid out by state law. It includes public input, says Erica Berry Wilson the county executive’s point person on the CEO search. “We’re listening to the public, we’re listening to the community. And we’re hearing what they want,” said Wilson, chief of staff to the County Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Education.

Growing up in West Baltimore, Lamar Richards remembers childhood summers playing football on the streets of Sandtown-Winchester and using the $5 his parents gave him — while scrounging for some extra change — to buy a chicken box. Life was simple then, he said. He knew he wanted to leave the city as an adult when it felt like crime was everywhere; when people he knew went to jail or got shot and killed; when gunshots became background noise.

Frederick will receive $80,000 from a regional planning organization to help improve interactions between businesses and pedestrians in the city’s East Street corridor as the area redevelops. The money from the Transportation Planning Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments will fund 30% of the design of plans for new sidewalks, bike lanes, and pedestrian crossing improvements where the city is trying to improve walkability and pedestrian access.