It’s late September. And Maryland public schools are busy – not just educating students but counting them.
In Maryland, most of a school’s funding is based on the number of students enrolled on one day, September 30th. The students counted on that day largely determine a school’s funding the following year.
But a Project Baltimore investigation is raising serious questions about that process. We’ve learned, in 2024, taxpayers gave hundreds of millions of dollars to schools to educate students who could not be found...
See page 13 of this Maryland State Department of Education Report for the 2023-2024 school year.
Montgomery County high schools could soon have new boundaries — and new signature programs.
Officials say it’s a necessary revamp that will give students more equitable access to a high-quality education.
But the one-two punch of change is causing angst, particularly for parents who bought homes with the expectation they would send their children to a particular school or program...
...“They’re trying to do a big thing, but they’re doing it poorly and without input from the right stakeholders,” said parent Rebekah Kuschmider, the mother of an Einstein High School senior and an eighth grader headed toward the school. She worries the changes will pull resources from the school’s performing arts program...
Officers working a football security detail requested backup after seeing several groups of teenagers fighting near the tennis courts and parking lot. Montgomery County Public Schools security staff attempted to break up the fights, but hundreds of students ignored repeated requests to leave.
As reported by MCM, police attempted to de-escalate the situation by launching several air pops while ordering the crowd to leave the premises. Air pops are loud sounds that do not release ammunition or pepper.
Members of the social justice group “are deeply concerned,” according to a news release from Dorien Rogers, the group’s field organizer.
While nothing but air pops were released, according to police, Young People for Progress sent a news release decrying the police’s actions around high school students. “This action escalates fear, normalizes militarized policing in school settings, and communicates to young people that their presence warrants fear and force rather than care,” it states in the release...
Thousands of gallons of water from an engine at the station was deliberately sprayed onto the field, and a video showing a towering stream of water saturating the field went viral.
One of the firefighters told police he was frustrated with baseballs leaving the field and damaging property at the adjacent fire station.
According to a charging document filed in the case, Montgomery County Fire Captain Christopher Reilly told two players who went to the station to complain, “I wanted to get your attention.”..
From The Hechinger Report. Full story is here.
The Public has until October 15th to weigh in.
In his first two months in office, President Donald Trump ordered the closing of the Education Department and fired half of its staff. The department’s research and statistics division, called the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), was particularly hard hit. About 90 percent of its staff lost their jobs and more than 100 federal contracts to conduct its primary activities were canceled.
But now there are signs that the Trump administration is partially reversing course and wants the federal government to retain a role in generating education statistics and evidence for what works in classrooms — at least to some extent. On Sept. 25, the department posted a notice in the Federal Register asking the public to submit feedback by Oct. 15 on reforming IES to make research more relevant to student learning. The department also asked for suggestions on how to collect data more efficiently.
From The New York Post, story by reporter Brandon Cruz. Full story is here.
The largest town in America has been held in contempt by a New York judge for releasing just 17 of nearly 3,000 emails sought in a battle over alleged illegally issued school-bus-camera tickets.
State Supreme Court Justice Maureen McHugh Heitner last week ruled that the failure of the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, Long Island, to produce the roughly 3,000 records amounted to “willful disobedience and resistance.”
The town had agreed to release the records after signing an agreement in June with the Brooklyn-based Aron Law PLLC, which is repping accused scofflaws — yet Hempstead has produced only 17 emails to date, court papers show.
And:
Aron’s law firm sued the town when Hempstead officials denied its original Sept. 2024 Freedom of Information Law request for the sought-after emails on the town’s servers, specifically any that contain the term “croce.”
The firm’s request centered on whether the town was still issuing bus-camera violations in spite of People v. Croce — a 2023 Suffolk County decision that threw out a driver’s conviction after finding school-bus-camera footage alone wasn’t enough to prove guilt.
After the town denied Aron’s FOIL request as “overbroad,” the lawyer took the case to the state supreme court, and in June, signed a stipulation with the town requiring the release of the records.
Those are just some of the findings of a 70-page audit released Wednesday by the Office of Legislative Audits that includes a slate of concerning findings dating back to 2008 and new findings that include nearly $700,000 in penalties for failing to meet federal foster care service requirements.
Legislative Auditor Brian Tanen, in a letter with the audit, said the administration “did not have comprehensive procedures to ensure individuals with disqualifying criminal backgrounds did not have access to children in the State’s care.”
The letter also noted that the administration “was not aware of the 7 registered sex offenders we identified that had the same address as an approved guardianship home housing 10 children as of August 2024 and had not identified that an individual employed by a group foster care home had been convicted of sexual assault of a minor. This individual was subsequently charged with crimes involving children under his care.”..
From Bethesda Today, story by reporter Ashlyn Campbell. Full story here.
School declared 'hold' status Wednesday, marking latest of several MCPS incidents this academic year
A BB gun was recovered Wednesday from a student’s backpack at Odessa Shannon Middle School in Silver Spring after a school community member reported that a student may have been in possession of a weapon, according to a letter sent from Principal Natasha Booms to the Silver Spring school community.
The school’s declaration of a “hold” status, which clears school hallways and keeps students and staff inside classrooms, marked at least the seventh incident since Montgomery County Public Schools began classes Aug. 26 that required a school to implement emergency protocols.
According to Booms’ letter, the student was “quickly identified” after the report of a potential possession of a weapon, and the object was determined to be a BB gun. “Out of an abundance of caution,” the school initiated a hold protocol at 2:16 p.m. while the matter was “thoroughly investigated.” The hold was lifted at 2:40 p.m. once the investigation was completed.
And:
When a school implements a hold status, students must clear the hallways and remain in a room or area until an “all clear” is announced, according to the MCPS website. Staff are required to close and lock classroom doors and account for all students and other adults, but classes should continue. The hold response is meant to be used to keep hallways clear during situations such as medical emergencies.
How many of these vendors have contracts with the Montgomery County Board of Education?
How many of those contracts were no bid deals?
Reminder that the Montgomery County Board of Education pays over $100,000 a year in dues to be part of this private club of Board of Education members from across the state of Maryland.
The public is not able to access MABE meetings or watch what goes on at these annual conferences, cocktail parties and dinners.
The juve
nile is accused of shoplifting in a CVS in the 800 block of Wayne Avenue. When officers arrived on the scene, they arrested the young man who attempted to evade the officers. During the arrest, officers found a loaded AR pistol ghost gun with .223 ammunition in his backpack. The gun had no serial numbers.
The juvenile was arrested. The case was sent to the Department of Juvenile Services...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/alleged-shoplifter-found-with-loaded-ghost-gun-in-silver-spring/
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) has released additional information regarding a September 19 incident at Blake High School, where officers responded to multiple student fights outside the school following a football game.
According to MCPD, around 9 p.m. officers working a football security detail requested backup after observing several groups of teens fighting near the tennis courts and parking lot. Montgomery County Public Schools security staff also attempted to break up the fights as hundreds of students ignored repeated instructions to leave...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/alleged-shoplifter-found-with-loaded-ghost-gun-in-silver-spring/
Principal Mark Brown Jr. said in the letter that a student reported at roughly 1:40 p.m. that a classmate’s belongings were stolen by a former student at a park off-campus at approximately 12:30 p.m. Later, other students confronted the former student who then “gestured and commented in such a way that suggested he was in possession of a firearm.” Students also reported that the former student had left campus.
“However, per [Montgomery County Public Schools] district protocol, we moved into a hold and secure, as a precaution,” Brown said in the letter...
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/19/einstein-high-former-student/
https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/mcps-vape-sensors-IEAWKYO67FCJZIR4DMSLNANWEU/
SEE ACTION ITEM BELOW VIDEO.
In 2022, the Parents' Coalition stopped Montgomery County from placing a cell tower in the home team bleachers at the new Woodward High School.
At Wheaton High School, the new school building had to be built to accommodate the existing cell tower that used to be on the football field.
Cell towers can be found on public school playgrounds all over the County despite the consistent opposition to these commercial compounds by parents and neighbors.
Public school land is supposed to be land dedicated to the education of our children. But unfortunately, in Montgomery County public school land is often handed over to commercial interests and children lose their outdoor spaces.
Montgomery County Public Schools, Daly Elementary School in Germantown:
The Montgomery County Council is considering allowing wireless companies to effectively decide unilaterally when and where to put up cell towers – anywhere, anytime throughout the county, with no due process, and in many cases without even a building permit. We urgently need your help to stop this ill-conceived change. Click here to make your voice heard BEFORE the public hearing this Tuesday 9/16!***************************************************************** The Montgomery County Council is considering Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 25-11, which would effectively allow wireless companies to unilaterally decide when and where to put up cell towers – anywhere, anytime throughout the county, with no due process and no minimum setbacks. And in many cases, without even a building permit. We urgently need your help to stop this misguided legislation. Click START WRITING on the right to email the Council Click here to read testimony from MC4T, which contains additional talking points. This Council is serving a four-year term, from 2022 until 2026. While the prior two councils (2014-2018 and 2018-2022) enacted bad cell tower zoning changes, fortunately this is the first time that this Council has tried to pass a cell tower zoning change. That also means that this Council has not heard from residents about this topic. The sponsor of ZTA 25-11 has not previously served on the Council and may not be aware of the level of widespread public opposition to cell towers in residential areas. This makes it all the more important for you to make your voice heard. Click START WRITING on the right to email the Council right now! Want to do more?
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The Maryland Public Information Act (PIA) Compliance Board will hold a follow-up to its annual meeting by videoconference on Friday, September 19, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually by Microsoft Teams. The public is invited to attend. You can find the
Meeting ID: 210 844 105 087 6
Passcode: jQ6Lf3uy
Dial in by phone
+1 443-529-0364,,599307034# United States, Baltimore
Phone conference ID: 599 307 034#
If you have any issues accessing the agenda, please email piaopengov@oag.state.md.us or call (410) 576-6560 to receive a copy. For additional information about this open meeting of the Board, please contact Kentiara Moore or Teena Hallameyer, Administrative Officers, at piaopengov@oag.state.md.us, or call (410) 576-6560.
If you have trouble joining by video or audio on the day of the meeting, please call (410) 576-6560, or email piaopengov@oag.state.md.us.
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| Councilmember Fani-Gonzalez |
I just sent a thank you e-mail to the office of Natalie Fani-Gonzales [sic] via one employee of hers named Hazel for helping us to have a $300.00 school bus camera fine dismissed, so you will know who to contact if something like this happens to you. She is our ward 8 representative. You would have to contact the representative in your ward. [Editor's note: Natali Fani-Gonzelez is actually a Montgomery Council Council member. There are no "wards" in Montgomery County.] Early in October 2024, my husband stopped behind a school bus without a stop sign out and the bus driver waved him on, but the stop sign popped out as soon as he passed and a week later we got a $300.00 ticket in the mail. I requested a court date, which was finally scheduled for this coming Wednesday at 1:00 P.M. I waited for the court date so I could try to find out who the bus driver was and subpoena him. I spent an hour and a half in several offices at the court house getting help navigating the automated phone system of the school bus camera company and getting different phone numbers to try to talk to someone. I then made dozens of phone calls over a period of these last 3 weeks to the school bus camera people, Montgomery County Schools and the police. The school headquarters told me to call their transportation dept. The transportation dept told me to call the police and the police would call them and give them permission to reveal who the bus driver was. The person at the transportation department had no idea how that process worked and neither did the person at the non-emergency number of the police. The man who answered the non-emergency # transferred me to the records dept and the records dept lady led me to file a request for the record on line. I finally, after several phone calls to a lady there who was trying to help me, received an answer saying they had no record and I had to call the school system. I went back and forth between the police dept and the school system's transportation department many times as people in both of those places were trying to help me, but could not. Since I had probably spent about 40 hours of my time being passed from one office to another, to no avail, I contacted Natalie Fani-Gonzales' office and she said she would contact the police and I should hear from them the next day. I had heard nothing after a week, so I contacted Ms Fani-Gonzales' office again and a lady named Hazel apologized that it was taking so long, but said they were having technical problems dismissing the case because a hearing was pending. I had resigned myself to having to go to court this Wednesday at 1:00 P.M.,but I found a letter in our mailbox this morning dismissing the case. What a relief after having this hanging over our heads for 11 months, because it took that long to get a court date. I had also alerted Hazel to the fact that my husband was in the middle lane and there was a car on each side of him that also passed the bus driver in the same incident because he waved them on, so they must also have received tickets. I don't know if they had contacted Ms Fani Gonazles' office or not, but maybe it was my telling her about them that got their tickets dismissed too. I doubt that most people would have known what to do or even had the time. It would have cost anyone who had to take time off work to do what I did more than the $300.00 fine, and they would have just paid it. I am thankful that my husband works and lets me stay home to manage the household and any problem like this that crops up. There are no lawyers who will accept school bus camera cases because once the bus camera has a picture of your car passing a school bus with it's camera out, you are presumed guilty.
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County Councilmembers are supposed to make laws, not decide who wins or loses in court. When a councilmember steps in to get a ticket dismissed, that’s more than bending the rules—it may be illegal.
Maryland’s Constitution (Article 8 of the Declaration of Rights) makes the separation of powers crystal clear: legislative, executive, and judicial powers “ought to be forever separate and distinct.” If a legislator interferes in a pending case, they’re crossing into judicial territory.
There’s also the issue of misconduct in office, which Maryland recognizes as a common-law misdemeanor. Courts define it as corrupt or improper behavior by a public officer while using their position. To prove misconduct, the State must show:
the person is a public officer,
they acted in their official capacity, and
they acted corruptly or improperly.
If a councilmember uses their influence to pressure police or prosecutors into dismissing a case that’s already scheduled for court, that could fit the definition. Beyond the legal problem, it undermines fairness. Most people don’t have a politician to call to make their cases disappear. Justice should be based on law and evidence—not political favors.
