Maryland
Maryland officials gave school systems little guidance on how to spend millions in education funds, audit finds
About $12.3 million in state education funds went unused over several years while local school boards were frustrated by a lack of guidance on how to spend them, a state audit found.
The audit by the Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education, released Feb. 6, chided state education officials for not giving adequate training on how to use millions in “concentration of poverty” funds distributed to school systems under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a 10-year education reform plan. In written responses, the Maryland State Department of Education said it planned to implement new grant management policies by March 1.
In eight counties that were allocated those grant funds, which are focused on supporting students living in communities with high poverty and little access to health care and social services, about a quarter of the roughly $42.7 million went unspent in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, the report says, attributing the low utilization to deficiencies in training.
Although the law lays out 13 services the funds can be spent on, “several [local education systems] shared frustrations about the lack of clarification or guidance by MSDE staff about whether certain items, positions, or services could/could not be procured using [concentration of poverty] funding,” the report says, noting that school officials said state staff “would primarily provide only verbal guidance” on how to spend the funds.
The audit, which focused on funds allocated to Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Montgomery counties’ school systems, as well as five other local education agencies in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore, found the state board had prepared various training materials related to the funds — but little documentation that the school systems were ultimately trained on how to spend them.
Instead, county school systems ended up using their allocated funds to pay for consultants to explain how to use them, the report notes.
As an example, the report says one school system entered a $4.1 million, five-year contract for “continued technical support in implementing a community school strategy.”
In fiscal year 2022, Montgomery County only spent 30% of over $4.7 million it was allocated for personnel grants and used none of its per-pupil grant money, the report says. The same fiscal year, Baltimore County spent less than half of the funds it was allocated, according to the report.
The office recommended that the state education department set up policies and procedures, including a monitoring process to make sure additional funds aren’t misused.
In its response to the audit, the state school board agreed with most of the inspector general’s findings and detailed a plan to communicate policies for using the funds, though disagreed with a recommendation for the education department to “establish an ongoing audit” of Blueprint expenses, saying that they had already hired a firm to probe grant spending.
We’ll see a few afternoon and early evening scattered storms today followed by a drier end to the weekend. Highs today will reach the mid 80s with overnight lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s.
Mainly sunny and drier for the end of the weekend
Sunday is trending drier with lower humidity and a high near 85. Our temperaturs stay warm but comfortable on Monday with afternoon temperatures peaking the mid-80s. The chance of rain remains slim through much of next week.
Hot weather returns to Maryland by midweek
Temperatures start an upward trend beginning Tuesday. By midweek temperatures soar into the mid and upper 90s both Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Humidity won’t be as bad as the July 4th week but heat indices could still reach near or above 100° during the afternoon hours for a few days. Heat will gradually ease heading into next weekend.
MARYLAND (WBFF) — Art D’Amico remembers when a bushel of crabs cost about $35 in the mid-1970s. Today, the president of the Annapolis Anglers Club pays nearly $400 a bushel — a price he says has climbed by at least $150 in the past five years.
“Everything’s more expensive,” said D’Amico, who has been involved in Chesapeake Bay fishing and crabbing since 1973, adding that he’s never seen crab prices like this before.
The soaring cost reflects more than inflation. Watermen, seafood dealers and economists say higher operating costs, shifting markets and concern about Maryland’s blue crab population are pushing prices higher, making one of the state’s signature summer traditions more expensive. But many Marylanders are still buying crabs, even at record prices.
“It’s definitely not what we’re accustomed to this time of year as far as quantity and price,” said John Ecker, a managing partner of Conrad’s Crabs, which has four locations in Maryland. “I’ve been here for 19 years doing this and, yeah, they’re getting higher.”
Read the full story on The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLAND (WBFF) — A Maryland woman was sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in a multi-million-dollar money laundering scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Maryland announced on Friday.
Fatoumata Boiro, 32, of Largo, will serve two years in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and has also been ordered to pay $6,838,558.31 in restitution.
Boiro was found guilty of conspiring to engage in a large, multi-member money-laundering operation. She pled guilty to being involved in the conspiracy and acknowledged that at least $3 million was laundered through her direct participation.
From 2021 through February 2024, she and several other individuals laundered proceeds from a significant wire fraud scheme, according to court documents.
Court documents revealed that the conspirators engaged in various financial transactions to conceal the source, ownership, and control of the wire fraud proceeds, as well as their location.
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The victims of this scheme included government agencies, organizations, and companies, such as an environmental trust, an urban redevelopment program, a medical center, a transportation company, a logistics company, a school district, a college, and a county government, officials reported.
Boiro and her co-conspirators created limited liability companies to act as shell entities, opened bank accounts in the names of these entities, and received and laundered funds from fraudulent activities.
Fourteen defendants have been charged in connection with the money-laundering conspiracy, with 13 already pleading guilty.
Officials reported that Faizou Gnora, 28, formerly of Alexandria, Virginia, remains at large.
The following includes the individuals previously sentenced:
- Yahya Sowe, 42, of College Park, to 114 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, restitution of $13,050,827.03, and forfeiture of $1 million
- Bright Boateng, 45, of Bladensburg, Maryland, to 108 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, restitution of $1,247,950, and a forfeiture of $431,750
- Victor Killen, 33, of Hyattsville, Maryland, to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, restitution of $7,070,656.46, and a $3-million forfeiture order
- Gedeon Agbeyome, 31, of Montgomery County, Maryland, to 72 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, along with restitution of $2,938,424.65, and a $2.8 million preliminary order of forfeiture
- Lawrence Ogunsanwo, 33, to 40 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and restitution of $5,648,816.23
- Lakeisha Parker, 33, of Baltimore, to 36 months in federal prison, followed by three years supervised release, and restitution of $8,306,930.95
- Martin Ogisi, 37, of Severn, Maryland, to 33 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, restitution of $11,077,044.17; and a $500,000 forfeiture order
- Kevin Colon, 34, of Curtis Bay, Maryland, to 27 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, restitution of $2,515,159.63, and a $214,518.42 forfeiture order
- Areal Harris, 27, of Hanover, Maryland, to 24 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and restitution of $3,159,482.83
- Emily Gil Arias, 29, of Silver Spring, Maryland to 24 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and restitution of 2,102,919.27
- Lorena Perez Herrera, 29, of Washington, DC, to 24 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and restitution of $1,473,125.58
- Blondel Ndjouandjouaka, 31, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to 24 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, restitution of $733,941.48, and a $757,562.63 forfeiture order.
Now, Boiro will spend the next two years in prison.
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