Baltimore School

A Baltimore student's tweet raised red flags 3,000 miles away this week, spurring a local investigation into a possible threat to a city high school, city police confirmed Thursday. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the city's police department, said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police alerted the department Wednesday to the Twitter post, which he described as "a threat indicating an individual was threatening to do harm" at Forest Park High School. Officials did not release details about the nature of the threat.

A proposal making the rounds in Annapolis to enlist the Maryland Stadium Authority in overseeing a massive overhaul of Baltimore's aging school buildings is clearly an attempt to bring the issue to the front burner in this year's General Assembly session. As a practical matter, there's little enough difference between this idea and one previously put forward by city schools CEO Andrés Alonso that it's worth adopting if doing so would prompt lawmakers to support the investment necessary to meet Baltimore's massive needs.

Marguerite Theresa Petersen, a retired Baltimore elementary school teacher, died of congestive heart failure Jan. 11 at Union Memorial Hospital. The West Baltimore resident was 89. Born Marguerite Theresa Page, she was the daughter of Dr. George C. Page, a physician, and Marguerite Jones Page, a homemaker. Raised on North Mount Street, she was a 1940 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School and earned a degree at what is now Coppin State University, where she also taught at its demonstration school.

State lawmakers appeared to warm Thursday to the Baltimore school system's $2.4 billion building modernization plan that received a chilly reception last year, but the blueprint fell short of garnering the endorsement of the state's public school construction agency. Baltimore City schools CEO Andrés Alonso and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake presented a united front before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, where the two leaders urged members to support a plan that relies on borrowing billions of dollars and a $32 million annual commitment from the state for the next several decades.

Dallas Dance has been superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools for less than half an academic year, but he is proving himself a quick study. The $1.3 billion budget he has proposed for the next fiscal year strikes the kind of balance that county leaders generally love best: progress with penny-pinching. The usual penurious critics may latch onto the fact that he is seeking a substantial budget increase - $41.9 million, or 3.3 percent - at a time of continued economic challenges for the county (including the closing of the Sparrows Point steel mill)

Baltimore school officials recommended Thursday severing ties with independent operators of six schools after a months-long review of more than two dozen diverse programs. In a presentation to city school board members, district officials recommended granting three-and five-year contract extensions to all but three of the 18 charter schools seeking renewal: Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy Middle School, Baltimore Freedom Academy and Collington Square Elementary/Middle School. Bluford and Baltimore Freedom Academy would stay open for current students until the end of 2013-2014, admitting no new middle and high school students as officials weigh whether the schools would close altogether at the end of that year.

Gov. Martin O'Malley said Monday that his administration proposes spending $336 million on school construction aid next year, including $25 million to add air conditioning to older schools. At a news conference at Overlea High School —- more than 50 years old and without air conditioning — O'Malley said the construction spending would yield an estimated 8,199 jobs. The money set aside for air conditioning addresses an issue of particular concern in Baltimore County, which has about 65 of the 180 schools in the state that lack cooling systems.

In a city of aging, closely built rowhouses, where officials estimate smoke detectors are sufficiently installed in only about half, knowledge of fires is prevalent, even among the youngest of residents. Ask a group of elementary and middle schoolers in Baltimore to raise a hand if they know someone who has survived a fire, or have seen the devastation fires can cause, and most will put a hand in the air, says Linnea Anderson, an American Red Cross representative on a recent afternoon visit to the Baltimore School for the Arts.

Although Archbishop Spalding hadn't wrestled in the Mount Mat Madness since 2006, the Cavaliers made the most of their return to the prestigious tournament by producing a pair of individual champions and one runner-up on the way to the team title Saturday night at UMBC. Spalding finished with 172.5 points, ahead of second-place Georgetown Prep (146.5) and third-place Urbana (141.5). The Cavaliers are the first Baltimore-area school since McDonogh in 2008 to win the 26-team event - which included teams from four states.

WEATHER: Cloudy, with possible showers and a high approaching 60 degrees. Tonight is expected to be mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 30s. TRAFFIC: Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues. TOP NEWS Push to ban more assault weapons expected in Annapolis : Legislation to ban assault weapons like the Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle used in the Newtown school massacre will be revived in Annapolis when the General Assembly convenes next month, according to leading lawmakers.