The Maryland commission overseeing school construction says in the coming months it will review an analysis from Johns Hopkins University researchers, who contend the state’s funding formula is unfair to some low-income, Black and Hispanic students. University researchers Thursday morning delivered an 11-page letter outlining their concerns to the Maryland State Department of Education and the Interagency Commission on School Construction, whose nine members are charged with establishing how much state and local governments will pay for school construction projects in each county.

Despite unanimously requesting analysis of the plan a week prior, on Wednesday the Howard County Board of Education rejected another alternative redistricting proposal put forward by Elkridge residents. The motion to move forward with the Elkridge proposal, or “scenario 5,” failed 5-1, with only board member Christina Delmont-Small voting in favor. Board member Yun Lu was not present for the vote.

Anne Arundel County biking enthusiasts are celebrating a banner cycle of state grant funding for upgrading, extending and improving bike trails. Late last month, the Maryland Department of Transportation announced $35.6 million in combined state and federal funding for 53 bike and pedestrian projects. A significant chunk of the money is earmarked for projects in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, most notably, $2 million for extending the Poplar Trail from Taylor Avenue to Calvert Street.

Student success, teacher salaries, fiscal responsibility and censorship were among the topics candidates for the Harford County Board of Education discussed during a virtual forum on Tuesday evening, hosted by the League of Women Voters. Seven candidates spoke to more than 60 online viewers on issues important to them, with a pitch for why they should be elected to the school board.

Inside the busy pediatric emergency room, doctors and nurses whiz down the hallway, barely aware of the teenager peering at them curiously through a small window. For about a month, the boy has lived behind locked metal doors at the hospital. The hallway is his only view of the outside world. He doesn’t see sunlight, get exercise or have access to education. Two other youths occupy rooms near him, but they seldom interact. Each room has just a bed, a chair and a television hung on the wall behind plexiglass.

Prince George’s County Schools CEO Monica E. Goldson recommended delaying the consolidation of two elementary schools Wednesday, after parents pushed back against an earlier boundary proposal that would have closed four campuses by next school year. Goldson’s recommendation came as the system reaches its final steps in revising its school boundaries in an effort to balance enrollment in different parts of the county. Some schools — particularly in the northern part of the county — have struggled with overcrowding, and more students are projected to enroll in the school system in the coming years.

“Tár,” the buzzy new feature film starring Cate Blanchett about a pioneering — and predatory — female classical music conductor, has become an unwelcome and troubling distraction for Marin Alsop, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s music director laureate. The movie is entirely fictitious, as the writer-director Todd Field makes clear.

The field is set for an intriguing Ocean City municipal election next Tuesday with four candidates vying for three open seats, including two incumbents, meaning there will be at least one new face joining the council. Mayor Rick Meehan is unopposed and will remain in his position. Councilman Lloyd Martin did not file for re-election, ending a two-decade run on the council including a long stint as council president.

A Maryland student’s dream of working as a nurse became one step closer to reality following an event that announced the opening date of Montgomery College’s East County Education Center. During Wednesday’s presentation in Silver Spring — where school officials detailed plans to offer for-credit and non-credit classes at the new center — student Nneka Ndubisi met Anthony Stahl, the CEO of Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center.

About 5,000 more Howard County households will soon be able to take advantage of the Aging in Place Tax Credit, thanks to rule changes passed last month by the County Council and signed by the county executive. The tax credit was enacted by the Maryland General Assembly in 2017 to encourage older adults to “age in place” in their longtime homes. The state law requires that a resident age 65 or older reside in the same home for a number of consecutive years in order to apply for a 20% property tax credit.