Despite The Fact Baltimore City School Systems Have Been Forced To Return Nearly $66 Million in State Funds For Failed Projects Since 2009, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan Says The Schools Are At Fault for Heating Problems

Yes, Maryland has granted emergency funding to help fix Baltimore City Schools, but this problem could’ve been avoided from years prior. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced To Funding $2.5 million in emergency state aid for repairs, before blaming the school system for poor maintenance.

“Let me be clear, this is not to reward the people responsible who have failed,” Hogan said, according to The Baltimore Sun. “This funding is literally about saving kids from freezing in winter and from sweating and being hospitalized during the warm weather.”

However, according to another report from the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Schools have had to return about $66 million in state funding for various reasons, including repairs after approved projects fell through, in order to prevent waste, according to state records.

David Lever, former director of the state’s Public School Construction Program, said his agency raised concerns in late 2015 about the large amount of rescinded funds coming back to the state from Baltimore.

“Projects were funded because they were legitimate and needed,” Lever said Thursday. “But then either the project would be so delayed it would meet up against a rule that said that funds have to be encumbered within two years, or the school system would discover they hadn’t asked for enough money. This was particularly true of HVAC [heating and air conditioning] projects.”

Baltimore City Mayor Catherine Pugh said that, “The lack of heat, poorly insulated windows, broken plumbing and other critical infrastructure issues have created an unacceptable and dangerous environment for our children.”

The Baltimore Teachers Union asked administrators to shut down schools for the rest of the week. Baltimore City Public Schools COO J. Keith Scroggins said; in older buildings, heating systems simply can’t keep up.

“We are doing our best trying to match keeping the building as warm and comfortable as possible, with the fact that these kids have to be in school and educated,” Scroggins said. “When we close schools, we have gotten a significant amount of calls from parents saying that they count on us to feed their children during the day.”

When a Twitter user started tagging Gov. Larry Hogan and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford in complaints about the issue Wednesday, Rutherford fired back.

“Our Administration has fully funded Baltimore City Schools for the entirety of our time in office,” he wrote. “In fact, we provided more than the formulas called for. The money is not reaching the classroom–ask North Ave. why?”

With the heating problems making its way to black and social news outlets, many people have wanted to help. Coppin State University Senior, Samierra Jones, started a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of raising $20,000. It has surpassed its goal, and is currently sitting at over $80,000.

Currently, all schools but one is open, but this is the first week schools opened back up.