Keeping libraries open for 12 hours every day of the week, redeveloping blighted areas, and using public schools for after-school and summer programs are some of the initiatives that will be funded under a $290 million five-year program enacted by the General Assembly.

We already know that there will be plenty of school construction. Ground will be broken at Forest Park High School and Lyndhurst Elementary over the summer. Renovations will begin at Arlington, Calvin M. Rodwell, Mary E. Rodman, and Medfield Heights elementary schools over the next 24 months. We will be working with residents and alumni to decide the future of Cross Country and Northwestern.

Langston Hughes Elementary has closed, but we are working to find new uses for the building. With the opening of the Shop Rite, the Liberty Heights corridor is no longer a food desert. We need to build upon that success with additional development. Finally, more slots revenue will come to many of our neighborhoods with the opening of the National Harbor venue in Prince George’s County.