By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“Who are the adults that they are excited to see every day? Who are the young people that they’re building relationships with? Just learning and attending to the people they’re building relationships with is going to go a long way in their socio-emotional development.” - Maryland State School Board President Joshua Michael, on the value of being involved in your child’s school environment, as classes resume this fall.
Labor Day is more than two weeks off, but while that may still be the unofficial marker for the end of summer, the days when it meant back to school are long past. Back-to-school is back.
Classes started Wednesday in Frederick County and in the next 10 days the remaining 23 school districts will all have students back at their desks. They’ll see more teachers, a new emphasis on identifying and helping students struggling with math and new — and shorter — standardized tests. William J. Ford has the story.
When students in Anne Arundel return next week, it will be under a new policy on gender identity, the superintendent announced yesterday. Under pressure from federal officials and a lawsuit from two county parents, the county will no longer keep parents from seeing information about their child’s gender identity, which had previously been marked confidential in student records. William J. Ford, who’s doing double duty today, also has that story.
We also have a report on the comptroller’s office dragging its computer system — along with 4 billion files — into the 21st century and the latest on the White House ballroom, in our headlines below. Enjoy!
Rachel Bayer, a student teacher and former federal worker turned classroom teacher, teaches a lesson on April 22, 2026. (Photo by Alexander Taylor/Capital News Service)
By William J. Ford
Remember when Labor Day was the unofficial end of summer and schools started up again after that? Your kids probably don't either.
The 2026-27 school year started Wednesday in Frederick County, and the remaining 23 school systems will all be back in class in less than two weeks -- almost a full week before they go on break for Labor Day weekend. The last time Maryland schools started after Labor Day was a brief window in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years -- when today's high school seniors were entering third grade -- when an executive order by Gov. Larry Hogan ordering the delay was in effect. Lawmakers reversed it in 2018, but Hogan vetoed it, buying his policy another year before his veto was overridden.
When students do return, they will be starting a school year in which they'll face new -- and shorter -- comprehensive tests, a renewed emphasis on school attendance and new help for students struggling in math.
School systems also start the year with nearly $15 million in grants announced Wednesday by Gov. Wes Moore (D) to decrease the state’s teacher shortage, under the state's Grow Your Own initiative. This latest round of funding is expected to support 845 educators throughout the state. One of the largest awards is the $3.1 million going to Frederick County. These grants are the second round of funding under the program, which will focus on high‑need areas such as special education and early childhood. After the first round of $19 million was announced in December, teacher vacancies were sliced nearly in half from slightly more than 1,600 to about 886 last year.
Anne Arundel County Schools will no longer keep parents from seeing information about their child's gender identity in school records, under a policy announced Wednesday.
By William J. Ford
After receiving a threat from the federal government about violating parental rights, Anne Arundel County public schools informed the school community Wednesday that its gender policy for students has been amended to grant parents more access.
Superintendent Mark T. Bedell wrote in a letter to the school community that the confidentiality section of the school district’s “Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ Students” was revised. In addition, the district is in compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Bedell wrote the policy clarifies that parents will have the right to inspect and review all parts of their child’s education record.
The amended policy comes after America First Legal of Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit July 8 in federal court against the school system on behalf of two parents of a high school student, who alleged that the district secretly facilitated their minor child’s social “gender transition” at school without their notice or consent. The complaint said the school district began in 2019 to adopt policies that include a guidance document for staff “to conceal gender identity information from parents of high school students.”
That was followed on July 27 by an announcement from the departments of Education and Justice that they were taking enforcement action against Anne Arundel County for what they called the district’s classification of a student’s gender identity as “confidential medical information” that couldn’t be shared with parents.
IN OTHER NEWS
Tax system computers enter the 21st century: Comptroller Brooke Lierman said the state’s current tax computer system, which dates back to when she was in high school, will move from a mainframe to the cloud, with 4 billion files being transferred over two weeks.
Teen pregnancy funding protected: A federal judge Wednesday blocked changes by HHS to grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program while a lawsuit proceeds, but dozens of existing grants canceled this summer will likely remain so.
Ballroom (legal) dancing: Historic preservationists asked the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to deny President Donald Trump’s appeal to continue construction on his $400 million White House ballroom on the grounds of the demolished East Wing.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Court shields churches from immigration: A federal appeals court upheld a ruling that bars Homeland Security agents from conducting immigration enforcement "at or near" more than 1,400 churches sprawling across 33 states and the District of Columbia..
Feds target Abrego Garcia again: The Trump administration appealed a district court judge’s dismissal of a Tennessee criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying the finding that the charges were little more than vindictive prosecution was "improper."
Beaver attacks put rabies in the news: Despite headline-grabbing stories of rabid animal attacks – including three attacks by beavers, two of which tested rabid – experts say there is not any greater risk to public safety this summer compared to previous years.
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