Around Maryland

Montgomery County police and the Maryland school system’s new security chief say there will be more collaboration in the upcoming school year. During an online briefing, Marcus Jones, Montgomery County Public Schools’ new security chief, said “safety is a top priority” for the school system. Jones, who retired after nearly four decades with the Montgomery County Police Department, said that he’s in the process of talking to other school districts about their experiences with weapons detections systems.

Local officials shared their concern Tuesday after recently learning that continued state funding for designing the second phase of widening Interstate 81 would not be in the Maryland Department of Transportation’s draft six-year transportation plan. The construction money for the next widening phase was deferred last winter, but the planning and design money had remained in the state’s plan.

Testing recently conducted by the Maryland Department of the Environment found eight Frederick County Public Schools where levels of certain chemicals in drinking water exceeded new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits. In an email on Wednesday, FCPS spokesperson Brandon Oland confirmed that the students, staff and families at eight schools that tested with elevated levels in the district were notified late last week of the test results.

The Baltimore Police Department will launch a pilot program in January that provides 100 employees with a financial stipend to cover child care expenses to help boost the depleted agency’s recruitment and retention. The stipends, up to $250 per month and $3,000 annually, will be made available to 100 qualifying professional staff and sworn officers with children younger than 13 years old or who have special needs, according to the department.

Baltimore scored millions in a settlement with the popular e-cigarette brand Juul, officials said Wednesday, the latest addition to the city’s pile of cash after a summer of settlements with pharmaceutical companies. Juul Labs Inc. can pay Baltimore either $7.5 million by the end of 2024 or $8 million over three years, according to a news release.

Anne Arundel County has received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to implement a new comprehensive hate crime prevention program. County Executive Steuart Pittman began work on the Hate Bias Forum in 2020, after learning that Anne Arundel led the state in reported hate crimes. Anne Arundel was awarded an amount that was three times the initial grant request due to the strength of its application, making it the only county entity in Maryland to receive the grant in this cycle, according to a county news release.

Paul Lemle’s mandate to members of the 75,000-member Maryland State Education Association is short and straightforward: It’s time to invest in ourselves. “I want to talk to [teachers] about power, and why it’s important that our own voices matter in education policies and how schools get funded,” said Lemle who, on Aug. 1, became president of the MSEA. “I want to build that power by recruiting our members into action.