Politics
Baltimore schools paid more than $104,000 to groups led by former board member
Organizations led by former Baltimore City school commissioner Mujahid Muhammad received more than $104,000 from the school district while his required financial disclosures listed no ties to district vendors. An ethics review remains pending, and the district says it has ended one of the groups’ contracts.
Baltimore City Public Schools paid more than $104,000 to two organizations led by former school board member Mujahid Muhammad, while his financial disclosure forms for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 reported no ties to organizations doing business with the district, records show.
The payments to KEYS Empowers and KEYS Development began in 2022 and continued through July 2026, according to district records. Muhammad amended his disclosures this year after the school system began an ethics review in June, a district spokeswoman said. The review is pending.
Muhammad resigned from the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners earlier this month, after the FBI raided an office used by one of his companies. Federal authorities have not publicly described the investigation. Muhammad did not respond to a request for comment.
District records show KEYS Empowers, a nonprofit Muhammad led, received $6,050 in August 2022 for a basketball camp. KEYS Development received about $98,500 for mental health services from November 2024 through July 2026.
A district spokeswoman said Muhammad recused himself from a June 2025 board vote on a contract with KEYS Development. The school system has since terminated that contract “for convenience,” she said, citing “recent developments.”
The district’s Ethics Panel had reviewed Muhammad’s 2023 and 2024 disclosures, the spokeswoman said. Review of his 2025 form, submitted in March 2026, was still underway when he resigned. The panel requested additional information to clarify his relationship with the KEYS organizations, she said. State law and board policy keep details of ongoing ethics proceedings confidential.
Mayor Brandon Scott appointed Muhammad to the board in 2023. The district payments are a small portion of the public funding received by the organizations. KEYS Development received at least $32 million in Medicaid payments for mental health treatment from 2018 to 2024, with annual payments rising from $2.1 million to $8.7 million, according to previously reported records. KEYS Empowers also received $1 million in federal pandemic relief funds allocated by Baltimore City in 2023.
A Maryland Department of Health inspector general audit released in April said KEYS Empowers owed the government more than $400,000, citing inadequate documentation and questions about spending. The audit identified expenses including seafood dining, apparel, virtual-reality games, groceries and car insurance, and said payments were frequently made through Cash App or Zelle.
David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, called the nondisclosures a serious conflict of interest and said board members should focus on overseeing schools rather than personal business. His comments came as Baltimore schools face persistent concerns about academic performance and how public funds are spent.