Around Maryland

The Board of Education of Harford County discussed the future of Harford County Public Schools’ elementary school health curriculum, and the construction of a new Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School that will reduce overcrowding at the current school, during its board meeting Monday, which lasted more than three hours. The board was presented with updates to the career, technology and health curricula for the 2022-23 school year. Proposed changes to the health curriculum for grades Pre-K to 4th grade are being reviewed by the Maryland State Department of Education to ensure the material is age appropriate.

Baltimore County and state leaders will provide $20 million in funding for the community-driven revitalization of Security Square Mall and the surrounding areas — the mall’s first improvement since 1998. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski earmarked $10 million in county capital funding from fiscal 2022, and House Speaker Adrienne Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, secured an additional $10 million in the state capital budget, which was approved by the General Assembly.

Montgomery County’s school district and police department privately signed an agreement that would bring law enforcement back into schools effective last week, but they informed the public and county council of the finalized contract Tuesday. The school system pulled school resource officers out of school buildings last year, later creating a community engagement officer program in which officers patrolled areas around schools but were not stationed inside. But some families have pushed for a stronger police presence after a string of safety issues — including a shooting at Magruder High School in Rockville that left one student critically injured.

The Board of Education will make a decision tonight on the Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School Replacement Project, which will replace the overcapacity three-building school with a single building on the Wakefield campus. The project has been planned for phased construction over fiscal years 2022-2024 with funding provided by the county and state, according to agenda documents. In November 2021, the Interagency Commission on School Construction approved the project for state funding through the Built to Learn Act. The county has also committed to the local portion of capital funding, according to agenda documents.

Attention celebrity stargazers! A TV series based on local author Laura Lippman’s “Lady in the Lake” began filming Monday in Baltimore with its stars, two Academy Award winning actresses: Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o. Apple TV ordered a limited television series based on Lippman’s New York Times bestselling novel, which is set in 1960s Baltimore.

In a groundbreaking study, Dr. Lisa Cooper, a leading researcher on racial health disparities at Johns Hopkins University, found that nearly all 40 participating Baltimore-area primary care doctors said they regarded their White and their Black patients the same. But that’s not what her testing on their unconscious attitudes revealed.

The pandemic has exacerbated Maryland’s teacher shortage, a situation that already had been worsening for years. A Maryland State Education Association report released in February showed that a large majority of Maryland teachers surveyed said staff shortages, onerous workload and burnout are serious or very serious concerns, while 60% said the pandemic made them more likely to leave the profession or to retire earlier than planned. To address the problem, four Maryland universities are working to recruit and train Black male teachers, who nationwide make up only 2% of teachers. Meanwhile, in western Maryland, one school is preparing students to teach in rural areas.