Longtime TV Reporter Dies After 35 Years Covering MD Schools

BALTIMORE, MD — Longtime WBAL education reporter Tim Tooten died at age 66, the Baltimore TV station announced Sunday.

Tooten covered Maryland schools for over 35 years. He was known for announcing snow days by wearing hats of schools that were closed. His collection stood at nearly 200 hats as of his retirement in December 2023.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott released this statement to WBAL:

"If you grew up in Baltimore in the '90s, you know you weren't officially out of school on a snow day until Tim Tooten said so! The first time he interviewed me, I had goosebumps and said 'sir I've watched you my entire life.' He said thank you, but don't make me feel old and carried out the interview with that grace and distinction that he displayed every day of his career. After he interviewed me for the last time, we shook hands, and he said that he was proud of me. That meant a lot to a young black man who grew up watching him as a strong symbol of representation. Baltimore has lost a legendary journalist who was an even greater man. Wishing light and love to his family and his WBAL-TV family. Rest in peace, Dr. Tim Tooten!"

The Randallstown NAACP honored Tooten with the Distinguished Education Award last year.

"He also gave us the good news and the challenges Maryland students faced," Randallstown NAACP President Ryan Coleman said in a press release. "On a personal note he always told me to be careful around hot mics. Maryland will miss this champion and I am glad that I knew Dr. Tim Tooten."

In 2005, Tooten won an Emmy Award for his documentary "Africa's Maryland," for which he traveled to Liberia to report on Maryland County and its residents.

Tooten was also a pastor, founding Harvest Christian Ministries and officiating the weddings of many of his WBAL colleagues.

Outside the newsroom, Tooten was an affiliate broadcasting professor at Loyola University Maryland and a mentor to African American men at Perry Hall High School.

Allison Pickard, District 2 Anne Arundel County Council Member, said Tooten interviewed her "countless times over the last decade as a PTA leader, school board member, and County Council member."

"Tim had a genuine love for the youth of this area and he was dedicated to education reporting always spending time to get the story right. Tim followed my family on Facebook and always inquired about my children when we spoke. He was such a lovely human being, a real gem and he will be greatly missed," Pickard said on Facebook.

Tooten is survived by his wife, Charleen, and his three children and grandchildren.