Mohammed Choudhury earns $310,000 a year as the Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, and he’s currently fighting for his job. Dr. Sonja Santelises, last year, earned $445,000 in total compensation as the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools.

 Two of Maryland's highest-ranking education leaders under fire in wake of Project Baltimore investigations

Two of Maryland's highest-ranking education leaders under fire in wake of Project Baltimor | WBFF (foxbaltimore.com)

MD IG for ED Bombshell Report: Failures in Baltimore City Schools investigations hinders potential Augusta Fells High School prosecutions

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A bombshell report just released by the office of the Maryland Inspector General for Education found that failures in Baltimore City Schools internal investigation into Augusta Fells, a high school in west Baltimore, hindered the chance of prosecuting those responsible.

The IG finding City Schools Staff Investigations Unit lacks a written policy regarding self-incrimination, which potentially places employees at risk during internal investigations. This lack of a written policy, which is known as a Garrity Warning and is similar to Miranda Rights, according to the IG's report, raised major concerns among local, state, and federal prosecutors. As a result, those prosecutors declined to consider criminal charges...

Report: Failures in Baltimore City Schools investigations hinders potential Augusta Fells | WBFF (foxbaltimore.com)

'I'm just stunned' | Baltimore School police officer works overtime during regular shift

 

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Project Baltimore has new developments in the investigation into overtime for Baltimore City School Police.

A City Schools police officer has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime, some of which appears to have been earned during his regular shift.

“I was floored when I looked at your stories, frankly,” said Ed Norris, a former Baltimore City Police commissioner, who sat down with Project Baltimore to go over our findings.

We showed Norris these overtime forms for Lawrence Smith, a longtime City Schools police officer and star football coach at Dunbar High School. Since 2020, Smith has earned at least $218,210 in overtime, which is the most of any Baltimore City school officer. We filed a public records request to see his overtime forms, and what we uncovered raised a lot questions...

'I'm just stunned,' Baltimore School Police officer works overtime during regular shift | WBFF (foxbaltimore.com)

Baltimore City School budget balloons to $21,000 per student this year

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore City Schools will be spending about $21,000 per student this year, thanks to a massive education funding increase. Maryland lawmakers passed the bill, known as Kirwan, two years ago. Now that funding is kicking in, the question is whether more taxpayer money will result in better student outcomes.

For this coming school year, City Schools’ budget has ballooned to $1,620,788,542. That’s nearly $230 million more than the previous year’s budget of $1,393,777,695. It amounts to about a 16 percent increase. Enrollment in City Schools is going down and has been for years. So, that’s a lot more money for fewer students...

Baltimore City School budget balloons to $21,000 per student this year | WBFF (foxbaltimore.com)

Baltimore students denied virtual learning despite 700 apparent open spots

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/baltimore-students-denied-virtual-learning-despite-700-apparent-open-spots?fbclid=IwAR3VKMD-nmTwejWJ7wfVohaBVnbnrBUPO8OSnXKSL4PAfuxtKiCbQE9kY-8

List of Schools without Air Conditioning Today

Sorry, this list is for Baltimore City Public Schools. 

Montgomery County Public Schools doesn't believe in putting out this kind of basic information about their buildings.  

The Parents' Coalition has received reports of MCPS school buildings without air conditioning today including McNair Elementary and Poolesville Elementary Schools.  But that's only a partial list based on information we have received.  The full list of schools with air conditioning issues is not available. 

 

Schools without air-conditioning

LAST UPDATED: June 13, 2022

The schools listed below will close or have early dismissal on extremely hot days, or that feel warmer due to a combination of heat and humidity. Schools not listed below have air-conditioning (but may dismiss early, if their systems require repair that cannot be completed within one day).

To find your school's dismissal time, please visit the school's profile page.

• Baltimore City College
• Benjamin Franklin High School at Masonville Cove
• City Springs Elementary/Middle School
• Collington Square Elementary/Middle School
• Cross Country Elementary/Middle School
• Curtis Bay Elementary/Middle School
• Elementary Middle Alternative Program @ PDC
• Eutaw-Marshburn Elementary School
• Franklin Square Elementary/Middle School
• Furley Elementary School
• Harlem Park Elementary/Middle School
• Johnston Square Elementary School
• Montebello Elementary/Middle School @ PDC
• National Academy Foundation
• New Era Academy
• Vanguard Collegiate Middle School
• Yorkwood Elementary School
• The Mount Washington School (lower building)

Schools with air conditioning that is currently under repair and will close or have early dismissal on extremely hot days:

• Academy for College and Career Exploration 
• Calvin M. Rodwell Elementary/Middle School 
• Dr. Bernard Harris, Sr., Elementary School 
• Garrett Heights Elementary/Middle School
• George Washington Elementary School
• George W.F. McMechen High School
• Independence School Local I High School
• North Bend Elementary/Middle School 
• Pimlico Elementary/Middle School 
• Sandtown-Winchester Achievement Academy 
• Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School
• Westport Academy 
• Midtown Academy (building not owned by City Schools)
• Youth Opportunity (building not owned by City Schools)

City Schools does not plan to install air-conditioning for these schools and alternative programs, because their buildings are not owned by the district:

• Empowerment Academy

Baltimore City student misses first 140 school days, marked present and passes classes

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Another scandal hits Baltimore City Public Schools, as Project Baltimore exposes how a student missed the first 140 days of school but was somehow marked as present and passing classes.

“I’m excited for him,” said Latasha Phillips, as her son prepared for his first day of eleventh grade on the 141st day of the school year. “I’m just glad he’s not sitting here all day, not being productive.”

Her son, Qwantay Spearman, has physical disabilities. He attends ConneXions, a charter school in West Baltimore, where he’s thrived, earning a 3.7 grade point average, until this year.

Qwantay missed the first 140 days of school because Baltimore City Schools could not provide him with a nurse, which is required under his federally mandated IEP or Individualized Education Program...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/baltimore-city-student-misses-first-140-school-days-marked-as-present-and-passes-classes?fbclid=IwAR1kUiskjAphZiUQ25RiCfGtXI2UGmpilkeUUmLHb6N8dXFcv5pOlByp6J8

MD Inspector General for Education finds taxpayers paid nearly $24 million to educate hundreds of no-show students

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A bombshell report confirms millions of tax dollars are being misallocated statewide to educate students who aren’t even in school.

An audit by the Inspector General for Education found many Maryland schools have been miscalculating attendance and enrollment, costing taxpayers at least $23 million.

This audit follows a FOX45 investigation into so-called ghost students. Ghost students are kept on the rolls to increase the amount of funding a school receives. According to this new IG report, it’s an issue that’s been costing taxpayers millions across the state for years...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/taxpayers-paid-nearly-24-million-dollars-to-educate-hundreds-of-no-show-students-maryland?fbclid=IwAR3RWwXqoAi9eOd-4zMnKQX0e3qsjATwBMUYlMinoQy51HXkKONt81DuTtU

https://www.scribd.com/document/570988619/IG-Audit-to-City-Schools

Baltimore teacher says he was fired after calling Child Protective Services

 “I saw [the teacher] attacking three kids while we were in circle time because she was very, very upset and she wanted to make a point, keep the kids in check,” Shulevitz told Project Baltimore.

“What do you mean by attacking?” asked Project Baltimore Investigative Reporter Chris Papst.

“Hitting,” said Shulevitz. “Hitting the students. I was shocked.”..

https://foxbaltimore.com/newsletter-daily/baltimore-teacher-fired-calling-child-protective-services?fbclid=IwAR0OG3zyp7JpywacZyYgI4HeaWTBxjP_22MHlEBNV3Va2JxKWtYqR_fv7ME

Jury awards $5M after Baltimore boy with badly broken leg not given care at school

A Baltimore jury awarded $5 million this week to the family of a 9-year-old boy who severely broke his leg during a schoolyard football game but was provided only mustard and a washcloth to bite on by public school personnel who neglected to call 911 and left a voicemail for his mother, according to the lawsuit.

Upon hearing the message, Jacob Harvey’s mother drove to Furley Elementary School and sped her son – who had gone into shock – to Good Samaritan Hospital. From there, Jacob was transferred to the University of Maryland’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, where he underwent emergency surgery, according to testimony during the Baltimore City Circuit Court trial...

...The jury awarded the $5 million in non-economic damages Monday against Baltimore City Public Schools after finding the negligence of BCPS employees at Furley caused and exacerbated Jacob’s injuries. The award, however, could be reduced to $100,000 and will likely not exceed $785,000 due to Maryland’s statutory caps on non-economic damages...

...BCPS issued a statement Thursday that “while City Schools does not comment on the details of pending litigation, we are reviewing the jury verdict and determining next steps, including a request to modify the amount of the verdict so that it is consistent with state law. In Maryland, school systems are not liable for any amount exceeding $100,000 for injuries like this one that occurred prior to October 2016.”..

https://thedailyrecord.com/2021/07/29/jury-awards-5m-to-injured-baltimore-school-boy/#:~:text=A%20Baltimore%20jury%20awarded%20%245,%2C%20according%20to%20the%20...

This Baltimore high school’s administrators schemed to inflate enrollment, change grades, report finds

A two-year Baltimore City school system investigation has found that administrators at one city high school schemed to inflate enrollment, pressured teachers to change grades and scheduled students into classes that didn’t exist.

The report is a devastating account of how the former principal of Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, Tracy Hicks, and three other administrators fabricated courses and approved students for graduation when they had failed to legitimately pass classes. While the report does not determine a motive, principals are evaluated on graduation and attendance rates...

https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-augusta-fells-20210902-vpqy532ykjhwxibzl2tnv7dpaq-story.html

Dr. Sonja Santelises is Maryland’s highest-paid school superintendent. In 2020, she earned $339,000.

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - The success of any school, and its students, is often measured by graduation rates. If that is the case, Baltimore City Public Schools is going in the wrong direction. Data just released shows, for the second year in a row, graduation rates in City Schools have dropped and the number of students graduating is at a six-year low.

Dr. Sonja Santelises is Maryland’s highest-paid school superintendent. In 2020, she earned $339,000. That same year, City Schools’ graduation rate, for the first time in six years, dropped below 70 percent...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/baltimore-city-schools-graduation-rate-drops-to-six-year-low?fbclid=IwAR3v_BylKWANA095aiOgbuXZdg81wDte0Yrw0tmIPndE-BQyfn9JnEXh_es

Baltimore City Public Schools: Former Augusta Fells Principal on Payroll 17 Months After Investigation, Earns Six Figures

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - Baltimore City Schools launched an investigation into irregularities at Augusta Fells high school in 2019 and replaced the principal. Now, Project Baltimore has learned, those same school leaders, who were being investigated, remained on the payroll, continuing to earn six-figure salaries.

For weeks, Project Baltimore has been trying to find Tracy Hicks. She’s the former principal of Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, a west Baltimore high school where Project Baltimore found hundreds of students are failing...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/former-augusta-fells-principal-on-payroll-17-months-after-investigation-earns-six-figures?fbclid=IwAR0SKFKl-kXse12jpLPkGsaY_aeC-Yc5tra1CnbcmL4a-rEKAyCaWlP7P-0

Baltimore City Schools report 13 positive COVID-19 results after weekly pooled testing

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - On Monday, Baltimore City Teacher's Union reported COVID-19 outbreaks at multiple schools just a week after students returned to in-person learning.

A spokesperson for Baltimore City Schools noted that following their weekly asymptomatic pooled testing on staff and students, there were 13 positive results. Pooled testing is a part of the school system's safety protocols to prevent the spread of the virus...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/baltimore-city-schools-report-13-positive-covid-19-results-after-weekly-pooled-testing