A teacher at Monarch Global Academy in Laurel is a finalist for the state’s 2018-2019 Teacher of the Year award.

Heather Carnaghan, who has taught at the public charter school for five years and been a teacher for 14 years, is one of seven finalists for the statewide award, Anne Arundel County Public Schools wrote in a release.

The school system said she is “co-teaching students in sixth through eighth grades to infuse project-based learning approaches as well as teaching reading to seventh- and eighth-graders.”

In a statement, Carnaghan said she was “truly honored” to be selected as one of the seven finalists, who range from teachers in Baltimore to Talbot County.

State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen Salmon will announce the winner on Oct. 12. Last year, Josh Carroll of South River High School took home the award.

Tax credits denied for Newtowne 20 project

State officials last week denied the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis’ application for the financing needed to redevelop the Newtowne 20 public housing project.

The authority applied in the spring for low-income housing tax credits, which would be used to pay for the $25 million redevelopment of Newtowne, the authority’s most distressed property.

The denial derails the authority’s plan to redevelop under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s rental assistance demonstration program, which allows housing authorities to rebuild properties under the Section 8 voucher program.

Eileen Neely, chief financial officer for the housing authority, said the organization is committed to rehousing residents under the rules of the rental assistance demonstration program. So regardless of the path forward, all residents in compliance with their lease will be able to return to housing, she said.

“We are committed to finding a plan that protects residents and redevelops Newtowne,” Neely said.

Neely said the housing authority is optimistic the denial won’t significantly affect the redevelopment timeline; the state awarded grant money for demolition so the project can get started on schedule. The authority will explore alternate financing options, including different tax credits and other HUD programs.

HACA officials and Pennrose — the company partnering in the rebuild — will meet with the Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Kenneth Holt and Maryland House Speaker Mike Busch to review where the application fell short.

“All is not lost — we are very committed to moving the project forward,” said Ivy Dench-Carter, Pennrose regional vice president for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Still, the outcome comes as a surprise, said Trudy McFall, co-founder of Homes for America, an affordable housing developer with four properties in Annapolis.

Homes for America has used the state’s Rental Housing Works Program, which uses bond funding and tax credits to finance smaller projects, but the program has a cap of $2.5 million. McFall said she didn’t see a clear path forward unless Busch can carve out a special allocation for the funding in the state budget.

Busch, at a Newtowne meeting last month, promised he’d try to secure funds for the project. In an interview last week, he said, “We have the money to tear them down — we have to get a package to put them back together.”

— Danielle Ohl, Baltimore Sun Media Group