Both policies are being published for a 30-day public comment period and will later come before the board for a vote on adoption.

The new policy on student expression must outline “reasonable” restrictions on “time, place, and manner” of student expression and must limit “profane, vulgar, lewd, obscene language, or language that has the intent to harass, threaten, or intimidate.” It also must provide a way for students to request approval for “activities of student expression” and a way for them to appeal denials, in addition to establishing procedures for filing and investigating complaints about profane or threatening speech.

“From a school perspective, we know that students are interested in what is going on in the world, and at times, when they are, then they may ask to express themselves in some way,” Assistant State Superintendent Mary Gable said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Gable said the proposed regulation comes in light of the “climate … not just on college campuses, but also on school campuses, perhaps high schools and perhaps middle schools.”

Gable did not specify during the meeting what qualifies as “student expression.” She said during a prior education policy committee meeting that students can express themselves “in a variety of ways.”

The policy reflects standards that have been established in other places, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Principal Counsel Elliott Schoen said during the board meeting.

Student Board Member O’Marie Barnes said he believes the policy will ensure “that our schools are safe and the environment is inclusive and welcoming.” He added that the most important part of the new policy is that it will be disseminated to students, “making sure students know that they have the right.”

Teaching sexuality indicators to younger students

The other newly published board policy holds that: “Direct teaching of the family life and human sexuality indicators and objectives must begin by grade four.”

“Research shows many students begin puberty earlier,” said Jason Semanoff, director of comprehensive health and physical education at the MSDE, speaking during the board meeting. “Our subject matter experts recommend that we introduce these topics sooner, to provide students with timely, accurate information before physical and emotional changes occur.”

Under the draft framework for fourth-grade health education, instruction would include describing “menstruation and the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur during puberty” and identifying “human reproductive systems, including medically accurate names for internal and external genitalia and their functions.”

Semanoff added that early instruction “helps reduce confusion and anxiety, builds confidence and equips students to make safe and healthy choices.

“It also ensures that all students, especially those who mature earlier, receive consistent, supportive guidance at a developmentally appropriate time.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

The Maryland School Report Card grades schools on a scale of 0 to 100 points, based on a variety of factors that vary by level. For example, all schools are graded on school quality and student success measures, while only high schools are graded on readiness for postsecondary success and graduation rates.

To earn five stars, a school must score 75% or more of the possible points. Below that, schools reaching 60% receive four stars, 45% three stars and 30% two stars. Schools scoring below 30% receive one star.

Each school’s results was published Tuesday on the Maryland Report Card website.

Year-over-year changes in star ratings were driven primarily by a reduction in two-star schools and an increase in four-star schools, said Geoff Sanderson, chief of accountability at the Maryland State Department of Education, during a presentation to reporters last week.

More than four-fifths of Maryland schools had a star rating of three or higher, with 43% earning four or five stars, according to a Tuesday news release from the department. Both figures represent slight increases from 2023-24, when 41% of schools earned four or five stars and 83% earned three or more.

No school increased by two stars, but 193 schools gained one star, Sanderson said. That includes 26 in Baltimore County, 25 in Baltimore City, 18 in Anne Arundel County, 10 in Howard County, seven in Carroll County and five in Harford County. Prince George’s County Public Schools had the most one-star gains with 34 schools.

Worcester County had the highest percentage of five-star schools at 18.2%, or two of the district’s 11 schools, according to a Sun data analysis. Baltimore County Public Schools had the greatest number of five-star schools at 23.

A total of 123 schools dropped by one star, including 17 in Baltimore City, 12 in Anne Arundel County, nine in Baltimore County, nine in Howard County, five in Harford County and one in Carroll County. Only one school statewide — in Baltimore City — fell by two stars. The most downgraded schools were in Prince George’s County, where 20 dropped by one star, according to the data.

Three-quarters of Maryland schools had no change in rating from the previous year.

Baltimore City schools experienced the three largest gains and the three largest losses in points. Creative City Public Charter School gained 15 points and George Washington Elementary gained 13 points, taking both schools from two to three stars. The Mount Washington School gained 14 points, raising it from three to four stars.

Meanwhile, Charles Carroll Barrister Elementary lost 25 points, dropping from three stars to one, while Edgewood Elementary lost 20 points and Moravia Park Elementary lost 17, with both dropping from three to two stars.

Chronic absenteeism

Following data from the 2022-2023 school year, which showed that 30% of Maryland students were chronically absent, the state education department set a goal to reduce that number by half over a three-year period. Data from 2024-2025 show statewide absenteeism was 25%, continuing a trend of incremental decreases.

The department measures chronic absenteeism as the percentage of students at each school who are absent for at least 10% of the school days and are enrolled in that school for at least 10 days.

When considering all schools in a district and treating distinct grade spans within the same building as separate schools, Worcester County had the lowest median percentage of chronically absent students, at 15.1%. In contrast, Baltimore City had the highest, at 44.2%.

Future accountability

State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright launched an accountability task force in 2024 to reexamine the Report Card. At the time, The Baltimore Sun reported that she was skeptical of the Report Card system, as it graded many schools as excellent while statewide student proficiency in reading and math were relatively low.

Joshua Michael, president of the Maryland State Board of Education, noted during Tuesday’s board meeting that some schools have increased their rating by seven to 10 points without changing their star category.

“The biggest problem right now is … schools are not being rewarded for growth enough in our report cards,” Michael said, speaking later to reporters. “Quite frankly, our report card right now is too much a proximity of poverty in our schools.”

Building on the task force’s recommendations presented to the state board in December 2024, the Maryland Accountability Advisory Committee will propose next steps for the board to consider by the end of the year, according to the MSDE news release.

Wright highlighted during Tuesday’s board meeting that three-fourths of schools saw no change in their star ratings this year.

“What we’re hearing from schools is that some of them are just feeling stuck,” she said. “So that’s really what the Maryland Accountability Advisory Committee is looking at, is … what do we need to be changing in order so the schools don’t just get stuck, if there’s a better way to differentiate as the law requires.”

Have a news tip? Contact Racquel Bazos at rbazos@baltsun.com, 443-813-0770 or on X as @rzbworks. Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

Conway secured $50,000 for the study from a philanthropic partner, and he’s currently working on finding another $50,000, the councilman’s spokesperson Luca Amayo told The Baltimore Sun. Conway was the lead sponsor on a bill to study the causes of student absenteeism, which was co-sponsored by almost all other council members and signed by the mayor in May.

Council President Zeke Cohen’s office declined to comment on Monday about the private funding. Cohen also didn’t provide an explanation when asked why the necessary funding for the absenteeism bill he co-sponsored wasn’t included in the city budget.

“I remain in conversation with the sponsor about how he can find funding to support the study,” Cohen told The Baltimore Sun in a text message on Monday, adding that the Council “has been aggressively advocating” for the implementation of the Maryland Transit Administration’s $1.1 billion BMore Bus plan, which “would meaningfully reduce commute times for kids.”

Conway had informed Cohen’s staff in February that the absenteeism study would cost $100,000, according to an email record reviewed by The Sun. But the funds were not included in the city budget this year.

Conway told The Sun in September that Cohen had promised to make the absenteeism bill a priority in his budget discussions with Scott. Asked on Monday if this was true, Cohen referred The Sun to his communications director, Emily Sullivan, who referred The Sun back to Cohen’s initial Monday comments.

Conway previously claimed in an interview with The Sun that Scott had refused to fund his absenteeism bill as an act of “political retaliation,” following Conway’s opposition to the budget due to concerns about Scott’s relationship with the nonprofit Baltimore Children and Youth Fund. In particular, Conway noted that BCYF sends much of its funding to the mayor’s office instead of directly spending the money on youth programs.

In response to Conway’s claims of retaliation, the mayor’s office previously told The Sun in September that it “did not receive correspondence from Councilman Conway outlining a request for this funding. The Councilman should have simply asked the Mayor in person. The Councilman’s indirect and manufactured complaints are not an effective use of the Mayor’s time.”

Regarding BCYF, the mayor’s office has told Spotlight on Maryland it spent the funds from BCYF on three different categories of youth programs. BCYF said it has no documentation of the money transfer.

City Schools previously told The Sun it can not complete the absenteeism study without funding from the city.

Absent students have long been a concern Baltimore, and especially in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic, when more than half of students missed at least one-tenth of their total enrolled school days, and thousands missed at least one-third of the entire school year.

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

Conway, who launched his Congressional campaign in Penn North last week, visited the Penn North Plaza apartments on Tuesday, saying he witnessed pest infestations, safety concerns outside the building and problems with basic maintenance and sanitation.

His visit follows reporting by The Baltimore Sun this summer about the building’s lack of a rental license, numerous housing citations, and concerns from residents about their quality of life and drug activity around the building.

“Residents are having a tough time,” Conway said, adding that the building’s management doesn’t have the support or funding it needs.

“It’s going to require potentially some significant changes at the federal level to make sure that there’s funding and otherwise to address some of the housing issues, and I really do look forward to tackling that in the future,” Conway said.

The building falls directly under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program that covers the remainder of residents’ rent, which is $871 per unit, after they pay 30% of their income toward it. .

The building falls directly under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program, which covers the remainder of residents’ rent, which is $871 per unit, after they pay 30% of their income toward it.

HUD didn’t respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. A spokesperson told The Baltimore Sun in August that HUD requires the owner to comply with all local codes and was reviewing concerns about the building with the owner and management agent.

A building manager declined to comment for the story and referred The Sun to the building’s management company, Pratum Companies, which previously said it’s been working to address security and maintenance issues.

Conway noted that the city has tried to hold the building’s owners accountable for the problems. The mayor and City Council sued the building’s owners this past summer, in an effort to compel them to address the citations.

One Penn North Plaza resident who has lived there for several years, Daki Napata, said he has never seen elected officials at the building. Conway’s spokesperson, Luca Amayo, told The Sun they were invited into the building by a resident.

Councilman James Torrence, who represents the area, said this summer that his staff had been trying to enter the building for two years, but weren’t allowed past the lobby. Last week, Torrence labeled Conway a “grifter” and accused him of exploiting the Penn North community’s pain for a “campaign moment.”

Crime in Penn North

Just across the street from Penn North Plaza, the manager at Jas Beauty Mart on the corner of Pennsylvania and North avenues, remarked on his empty store on Tuesday afternoon, saying people are scared to come in because of crime in the surrounding area.

“People are selling drugs out there,” said Armand, pointing toward the store window. He said people stand outside and falsely claim they’re waiting for the bus.

Armand, who declined to give his last name for safety reasons, said people try to steal from his store every day.

“By the time I call the police, they’ve gone already,” he said. “So there’s nothing to do.”

Armand said he hasn’t seen much improvement in the area since the mass overdoses that occurred in recent months in Penn North. He said his store has been open for 10 years, and if things don’t change, he probably won’t be able to keep it open for more than two years.

Conway greeted Armand as he entered the store.

“I think we need people like him, people who will come and see and give a solution,” Armand told The Sun. “Politicians don’t know what’s going on.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

Blanchard said he, along with councilmen Jermaine Jones and Antonio Glover, will propose a package of legislation, including a zoning bill to set a minimum distance between smoke shops and another to address exterior signage. Blanchard, whose district includes Federal Hill, said the shops create a public health concern and have become a “neighborhood ecosystem nuisance,” including “super bright” exterior signage.

“They’re open late; they’re selling, obviously, a [product] that is not healthy. They tend to have very tacky signage,” Blanchard said. “There’s a lot of different reasons that people across the city are frustrated.”

Sam Alakhsash, a manager at Tobacco House and Gifts in Federal Hill, said he would welcome the restrictions.

“We’ve been here for 15 years,” he said. “We had like five or six other smoke shops open right next to us. So we’re all in competition with each other, and none of us make money.”

He said there isn’t much lighting outside his store. “We could change it. It’s not really a big issue,” he said.

Alakhsash said he hasn’t heard complaints about smoke shops themselves, but about an environment of crime that can be associated with them.

“Some smoke shops who just come in and they’re new and they’re competitive and they don’t really care about the community as much, and they just start selling weed. And then when they start selling all these drugs, what happens is you get a bad crowd that comes to the smoke shops,” he said.

Council President Zeke Cohen said in a statement that several bills may be introduced at the next Council meeting.

“Councilmembers have been working together to address the issue of a saturation of vape/smoke shops popping up across the city,” he said.

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

The meeting won’t be open to public testimony, but people can send in a written comment to the task force, according to City Councilman James Torrence, a member of the task force. The proposal to move the transfer station, offered by the City Council and Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration, has generated public concern about environmental impact on the Jones Falls and the proximity of the proposed location to a recreational area. The mayor’s office has said a new and improved transfer station would benefit the community and city workers.

Monday’s meeting will be livestreamed on CharmTV (charmtvbaltimore.com/live-stream) from the Curran Room at City Hall. Asked about the lack of opportunity for public comment, Torrence said there’s not enough space in the Curran Room for the public to attend, and he said there were logistical difficulties because of the Council’s meeting at 5 p.m. The 13-member task force will meet at 7 p.m.

Torrence, who represents District 7, said he is seeking an opportunity for public testimony to happen soon.

Torrence, who is Black, said he’s not taking a side on the waste transfer station issue, but said his principles are that the new location isn’t in a Black neighborhood, that Falls Road isn’t closed and that the decision “makes sense for both the city financially as well as makes sense for everyone.”

Asked about concerns from city residents about the Falls Road location, Torrence said he’s been listening to his constituents and said there’s been “overwhelming support” not to have the transfer station move to Falls Road.

“I will let the information come and flow as we meet as a task force so that we can have the community along for the ride with us and understanding and showing the work,” Torrence said. “I don’t want to predispose the committee to what my thoughts are, so that we can have an objective recommendation.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

Advocates are optimistic about transitioning toward a clean-energy ride to school, noting the environmental benefits and positive impacts on children’s health. But there are also challenges, including a lack of charging infrastructure, mechanical failures and up-front costs as high as $400,000 per bus.

Federal tax credits for electric school buses, passed under former President Joe Biden, are phasing out at an accelerated pace, following the passage this summer of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The White House has referred to clean energy projects as a “Green New Scam,” saying the president favors “reliable” nuclear and fossil fuels.

The Federal Transit Administration also drew attention in August to battery fires in decommissioned electric buses. “This is not the first green deal initiative to backfire with serious long-term ramifications, bringing into question how safe and efficient these investments are,” said FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro.

Supporters of electric buses, however, claim that diesel-powered bus emissions impact children’s health. Sue Gander, director of the Electric School Bus Initiative at the World Resources Institute, noted research showing an association between diesel-powered bus emissions and respiratory diseases like asthma, one of the leading reasons nationwide for student absences. Greenhouse gas emissions from an electric bus, meanwhile, are half that of a diesel or propane-powered bus.

“You’ve got kids with developing lungs, who are more sensitive to emissions,” Gander said.

The buses are also quieter.

“It’s easier for the driver to drive,” she said. “The kids don’t have to shout over each other.”

But Republican Sen. Justin Ready, who serves as Senate minority whip and represents Carroll and Frederick counties, expressed concern about added demand on the electric grid. He also said the millions of dollars in grants for electric school buses would be better spent in other ways, including on other environmental goals.

“It seems like it’s the ultimate sort of luxury item, at a time when budgets are stretched pretty thin,” Ready said. “I hate to have to be the Debbie Downer, but you know, it doesn’t seem like a very good use of resources to me, considering the energy crisis that we’re about to face.”

Ready added, “I’m for the air being cleaner and for lower emissions. But again, I think people have to look at the whole picture.”

Sizing up the cost

While several school districts are rolling out buses, the main concerns tend to be cost and infrastructure availability, limiting routes, said Natalie Buscemi, transportation program manager at the Maryland Energy Administration.

The up-front costs for electric school buses are significantly greater than non-electric options. The price range for electric buses is $330,000-$400,000, while gasoline or diesel-powered buses cost $105,000-$215,000, Buscemi said.

But Gander notes that electric buses are cheaper when it comes to maintenance and fuel costs, with around $100,000 in savings over the lifetime of a bus. She said that it’s “critical” to have incentives like government funding to cover the costs, but that “as those buses increase and manufacturing gets to scale, we’re expecting to see those prices come down.”

The Maryland Energy Administration’s Electric School Bus Program rolled out $12 million in grants for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which was used to purchase 53 school buses, Buscemi said. The agency is awarding $17 million in the current fiscal year.

The program covers chargers and technician training, and it can also provide a feasibility study for districts that are considering electric school buses in the future. It also gives preference to applications that come from an overburdened and low- to moderate-income community, she said.

A spokesperson for Baltimore County schools said it is leasing five buses through Highland Electric for a 12-year term. The total cost per bus is $400,000, which includes the full package of the vehicle, charging infrastructure, electricity and maintenance services.

This year, the county secured a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant “to help offset the cost of electrification” for an additional 25 buses.

Prince George’s County is aiming to electrify all its buses by 2040. The county’s most recent climate change action plan states that they were awarded a $2.4 million grant from the Maryland Energy Administration, which will help them acquire as many as eight additional electric buses, bringing their total number of electric buses to 20.

Asked if the cost of electric vehicles in Baltimore City has been worth the investment, school system spokesperson Sherry Christian wrote in an email, “The electric vehicle program remains in the pilot phase and is still being evaluated.” The school system has 25 electric buses and chargers, purchased through an EPA grant totaling $9.4 million, she said.

Operational difficulties

Some Maryland counties have experienced operational or “performance” challenges with their electric school buses.

In Montgomery County, which now has 285 buses — by far the greatest number in the state — a 2024 inspector general’s report states that issues with mechanical and/or charging infrastructure “resulted in buses not being able to run routes on more than 280 instances from February 10, 2022, through March 31, 2024.” Out of those instances, there were 180 times when repairs weren’t made within five working days, averaging out to 13 days per bus. The report also said Montgomery County Public Schools didn’t assess the contractor any fees for these mechanical or charging infrastructure issues.

The inspector general’s report also said the county’s failure to hold the contractor accountable with regard to late deliveries “led to millions of dollars in wasteful spending.”

Asked for comment on the inspector general’s report, MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez said in an email, “Our primary focus is ensuring safe, timely and reliable transportation for the more than 103,000 students we serve daily.”

“Current electric bus technology is not fully capable of meeting all of our transportation demands, particularly for longer routes, field trips and mid-day services that exceed charging capacities,” Lopez said. “MCPS continues to have a business relationship with Highland Electric in order to maintain our fleet of 285 electric school buses.”

Montgomery County initially planned to acquire and operate 326 buses.

Lopez said that although the school system is not currently acquiring additional electric buses, it “remains committed to its climate action goals … and those of the county and the state of Maryland, which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions and, for MCPS, transitioning to a fully electric fleet over time.”

Asked about mechanical failures with Baltimore County buses, and whether they occur more or less often compared with non-electric buses, school system spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala wrote in an email, “The integration of new technology inherently introduces operational learning curves. However, the frequency and nature of mechanical issues observed thus far remain within the expected parameters for a new fleet deployment.”

In Howard County, two electric school buses that were purchased by a contractor are no longer in use due to what the contractor described as “performance issues,” according to school system spokesperson Emily Bahhar.

Bahhar said the school system will continue looking for grants after having a potential EPA grant canceled earlier this year, which would have helped three contractors replace their current buses with electric buses.

Electric buses can also encounter difficulties in winter. A recent study by Cornell researchers found that the amount of energy consumed by electric school buses increases 48% in cold temperatures. Buscemi said fleet managers adjust to cold temperatures by using the buses for shorter routes.

There are a number of ways bus operators can adapt to the cold, including preheating the buses so the battery isn’t drained as much, according to Gander, from the Electric School Bus Initiative. She added that states with colder temperatures than Maryland use electric buses.

“Maryland has been a leader, continues to be a leader in this space,” Gander said. “[I’m] really excited about that.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

After a carbon monoxide leak in his West Baltimore home, the fire department shut off his furnace, and he hasn’t used it since. One contractor told him it would cost $20,000 to replace, while Coleman, 72, lives on an income of $1,700 per month. In the winter, he keeps to his bedroom with two space heaters, and an additional space heater in his bathroom.

“I’m in need of a furnace bad,” he told The Baltimore Sun.

Coleman is one of thousands of older adults in Baltimore who have applied and are still waiting for help from the city with repairs on their homes. City-approved contractors are used to make repairs. Sometimes, residents wait months or even years for help, according to city officials speaking at a hearing on Thursday about home repair assistance programs.

“We want our folks to be able to age in place, and to age in place with dignity,” said Councilman John Bullock, who chairs the Education, Youth, and Older Adults Committee.

Coleman attended the hearing on Thursday and told city officials that he applied for assistance five years ago. Brooke Paluzzi, assistant commissioner of Home Repair and Rehabilitation, said she received his referral earlier this year and said she couldn’t confirm when he had initially submitted his application, since that information resides within another area of the department.

Peggy Scarlett, 72, lives in Coleman’s neighborhood and also appeared at the Council hearing on Thursday. Her needed repairs include a front step that she said is too high for her after getting two knee replacements. She also has a leak in her bathroom sink, in addition to a hallway light and electrical outlets that “sparkle” when she tries to use them.

Scarlett, who has lived in her house for 42 years, said she can’t afford the repairs. Her income is only $900 a month, while her gas and electric bill alone is around $500, not to mention the cost of water and insurance.

“If it wouldn’t be for food stamps, I don’t know what I would do,” she said.

The city has 4,832 people on the wait list for repairs, which includes 2,731 over the age of 55, as of Oct. 9, according to Nicole Hart, deputy commissioner of Homeownership and Housing Preservation, with the city’s housing department. Roof and furnace repairs are the two top requests the city receives, she said.

The program is not an “emergency program,” Hart said, but they are able to prioritize more urgent matters, “like if something is in danger of collapse, or, you know, it’s a severe impact to health and safety.”

Following the hearing, Paluzzi spoke with Coleman about his application. He asked if his furnace could be switched from oil to gas. She said they could make the switch, but it would take longer to get his heat on since they’d have to install gas lines and examine his electricity. She told him she would set up an appointment for someone to call him next week. Hart offered to provide electric blankets while Coleman waits for the conversion process.

Councilwoman Odette Ramos said she received a letter from a constituent who needs around $20,000 in repairs on her home, including roof and furnace issues, according to the city’s LIGHT Intake and Assessment Unit, and has been waiting since 2023.

Councilman Jermaine Jones said the biggest challenge is “managing expectations” of the people who apply, and that it’s frustrating for people to wait a long time for their requests to be addressed.

Hart said they’ve considered closing their list to new applications, but ended up leaving it open in case emergencies come through.

Council President Zeke Cohen noted a small budget increase this year in funding for the Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors program, which works to provide modifications to seniors’ homes so they can live there longer.

Cohen also questioned what it would take to clear out the backlog of applications and rapidly provide repair services to older adults, even if it’s not an emergency.

Paluzzi said it would be hard to estimate the amount, because they’re not always able to implement all needed repairs. Project costs average $37,000, she said.

“We do as much as we can with the resources we have.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

“He left us out for dead,” Benning said, referring to Dermell Brunson, the founder of Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center (LTYC), a nonprofit contractor with Baltimore City Public Schools, where Benning said he was employed for several years.

Benning and other former LTYC teachers are suing the nonprofit and school board for allegedly failing to pay their wages. The teachers have been unable to pay their bills and have had to borrow money to cover their living expenses, according to plaintiff attorney Howard Hoffman, in an interview with The Baltimore Sun.

“He promised to pay us,” Benning said, referring to Brunson. “It’s hard to survive without money.”

Brunson told The Sun in an email on Wednesday that LTYC “hasn’t received or been properly served, nor have we been made directly aware (from filing attorneys) of any lawsuit filed.”

LTYC has been contracted with City Schools for $7.5 million over three years, according to the lawsuit. That includes an extension of the contract from its original end date in June of this year to June of next year.

In response to several questions about the lawsuit, including whether City Schools was late in its payments to LTYC, the school system said in an email on Wednesday that it is “reviewing the matter and will respond appropriately.”

The spokesperson continued, “However, we have been clear that any failure on the part of LTYC to pay their employees is solely the responsibility of LTYC. City Schools has paid its obligations to LTYC, more than $600,000 to date, authorized in our purchase order.”

According to the lawsuit, Brunson explained the lack of payments to Benning by claiming that he was waiting on payments from various school districts. Brunson also told Benning, according to the suit, that City Schools was “catching up” on payments and had “past due invoices.”

Hoffman contends that the teachers worked for both LTYC and City Schools, and that “one joint employer is fully responsible for the wage violations of the other.”

“What we’re faced with is joint employers that are pointing fingers at each other,” he said, adding that both employers will be held “responsible.”

Hoffman continued, “One of the sadder things about the cases is that these teachers — they were called to do this work in some of the more distressed neighborhoods in Baltimore City, as part of a calling to help rise up Baltimore’s youth.”

The plaintiffs are seeking to be paid for the missed wages, in addition to damages. Hoffman said that in his 26 years of legal experience, he can think of “no group more deserving of enhanced damages than this group.”

“Many within this group, along with their families, have really suffered as a result of the loss of their pay,” Hoffman said. “I mean, these are individuals that were not making a great deal of money to begin with, and I think, admirably, stayed the course and completed their teaching of these students for the school year, even when, you know, they could barely afford to drive to work.”

Hoffman said he believes there should be a larger discussion about the “outsourcing of public sector jobs.”

“Core functions like public school teachers should not be, in our view, outsourced,” Hoffman said. “When teachers are contracted out through a third party such as LTYC, they lack the health insurance, they lack the pension contributions, they lack the union protection.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.

South Baltimore Learning Center was two weeks into its summer enrollment session when it was forced to close after the Maryland Department of Labor failed to deliver a funding allocation involving combined state and federal dollars. The center has since received funding from the state, but it was $147,000 less than expected, prompting a reduction in staff.

“It requires us to do a little bit more, take on a little bit more, and really try to make it work with the little that we have,” said Melissa Smith, SBLC’s executive director.

The center depends on state and federal funding for around 60% of its $1.4 million budget, Smith said. In addition to government funding cuts, the center also received less money in donations this year, which “added further damage,” she said.

“We are really starting with less and trying to just, you know, just survive,” she said. “We can’t run this on nothing. We need help. We need support; we need capital. We need people to care.”

The Maryland Department of Labor said SBLC received a Notice of Grant Award for $521,150 from the agency’s Office of Adult Education and Literacy Services on Aug. 25. The center had been expecting nearly $670,000.

“All grantees have received an initial disbursal that is less than the previously projected amount, as a prudent approach in the context of an uncertain federal landscape for education funding,” said Dinah Winnick, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Labor, in an email. Winnick added that “additional funds may be released in the coming weeks.”

SBLC reopened for learners on Oct. 6, with many students returning after their classes were halted this summer.

“After a lot of advocacy … and just some push from different congressmen and congresswomen who are really helping to fight and support us, and our state workers as well … they really got the funds reinstated for us,” Smith said.

SBLC has served thousands of GED graduates and “workforce-ready participants” over more than 35 years. The center helps adults obtain high school diplomas — free of charge to students — and it also provides programming on career skills, financial literacy, and trauma, addiction and mental health recovery.

Students attend SBLC programming for a variety of reasons. Some may have recently served a prison sentence, while others may have dropped out of high school because they took on a job or needed to stay home while their parents struggled with an addiction, Smith said. Students range in age from 18 to 70, with several in the 25-44 age demographic.

“Their testimonies are very powerful,” Smith said. “We are an amazing solution to helping folks earn their Maryland high school diploma so that they can enter careers that are helping them sustain a living wage.”

SBLC is celebrating its reopening at 11 a.m. on Nov. 6 at 28 E. Ostend St. Smith said anyone who wants to donate can do so through the center’s website.

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com or 443-682-2356.