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Baltimore students won’t be forced to repeat grades

BALTIMORE — Baltimore City Schools won’t require tens of thousands of students failing classes this year amid challenges posed by the pandemic to repeat a grade in the fall.

Instead, Chief Academic Officer Joan Dabrowski says they will give students additional time and customized instruction plans to make up gaps.

News outlets report that the decision was announced at a school board meeting Tuesday night and in emails to parents and teachers. No school board vote is required.

About 65% of secondary students and 50% of elementary students in the system are failing at least one class, according to the school system. Testing will determine what students have missed and a catch-up plan will be developed.

Fentanyl seizures plummet as Trump administration shifts focus to immigration

WASHINGTON — Fentanyl seizures decreased by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to conducting immigration enforcement, according to a report government investigators published Friday.  Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report. “With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said. The report found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.
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