Around Maryland

National politics have for years been influencing public education. Maryland, for the most part, has stayed immune. But now, partisanship has crept into local school board elections, which are supposed to be nonpartisan. A recent announcement from the Maryland Democratic Party makes clear that the spirit of the races has shifted.

A report probing work conditions in Baltimore’s Department of Public Works following the heat-related death of a worker on the job has found the department had no procedures for dealing with heat-related illness, offered inadequate facilities, vehicles and training, and confirmed complaints of a toxic work culture where employees feared retaliation for raising safety concerns.

Speeding and an unsafe lane change contributed to the horrific crash on Interstate 695 last year that killed six highway workers, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its final report on the incident. In March 2023, two cars — both traveling in excess of 120 mph — collided on the inner loop of I-695, the Baltimore Beltway, near Interstate 70.

With the start of the 2026-2027 school year, third graders who do not meet reading level standards could be held back unless parents intervene, according to a new policy from the Maryland Board of Education. The policy comes as literacy rates in the state have continued to decline. The policy passed in a Tuesday session with an 11-1 vote.

The University of Maryland School of Social Work is offering in-state tuition to D.C. residents enrolled in its Master of Social Work program, as part of a push to help address a shortage of social workers in the region. The change, effective this fall, offers in-state credit prices to D.C. residents participating in either the online program, or in UMSSW’s locations in Baltimore or Shady Grove.

ATCC, a biological materials management and standards organization with research and technology centers in Gaithersburg and Germantown, Wednesday received a C06 Research Facilities Construction Grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build a new biomanufacturing suite at its headquarters in Manassas, Virginia.

Baltimore’s school board on Tuesday extended the contract of CEO Sonja Santelises through June 2026, adding a second year to the one-year contract she received in June. The unusually timed move comes four months after Mayor Brandon Scott appointed three new members to the board who were more supportive of Santelises, apparently swinging the board in favor of her leadership continuing to a 10th year.