Schools seeking $37 million for building projects

Friday, Sept. 14, 2007

The total construction request for the next six years, which the board will submit to the state next month, includes $37.7 million of state funding. Total requests to the county over the same period total almost $50 million.

In addition to final construction dollars for the new Evergreen Elementary School, set to open in the second half of 2009, the school board hopes to receive funding from the state for a major renovation at Leonardtown Middle School and HVAC renovations at Greenview Knolls Elementary and Spring Ridge Middle. Neither Greenview Knolls or Spring Ridge currently has central air conditioning.

Funding for many school construction projects comes from the state government, which pays 72 percent of building costs, based on growth and projected growth. This does not include money for land, planning or school equipment such as desks.

The school system will request about $7.2 million in fiscal year 2009 in addition to the $6.8 million already approved to begin construction on Evergreen Elementary School next year.

A heating and air-conditioning upgrade at Leonardtown Middle School will be changed to a limited renovation. This new construction category was outlined by the state this year and allows schools to combine several major repairs into one project.

The limited renovation will cost almost $4.3 million.

Students would be moved out of Leonardtown Middle school while the construction is occurring for 18 months to two years. The project will be completed sometime during the 2010-2011 school year.

Kim Howe, supervisor of capital planning, said that sixth grade only could move to the Banneker trailer complex during construction, similar to what happened during the Margaret Brent Middle School renovation. Grades seven and eight could be moved around the school out of the way of construction work.

Maryland legislators this year approved the limited renovation category for schools in hopes for quicker, more widespread improvements to aging schools. The state is still working on the specific rules and regulations regarding the category, but at this time there is no dollar limit to a limited renovation.

A limited renovation must have five major building systems, such as HVAC, roof, ceiling, lighting, security, flooring, plumbing, windows or other structural improvement.

Also, the project must result in major changes in support of education. This could include modernization of science labs, media centers, fine arts centers, new technology or painting.

However, the catch is the state will not consider any additional work to the school for 16 years.

The program plan can and does change each year based on student enrollment projections. School administrators try to project the number of students out for years and determine school capacity and other needs.

‘‘We will continue to monitor the enrollment and if these projects need to be accelerated,” they can be moved forward in the plan, Howe said.

New middle and high schools were pushed out another year, according to the current capital improvements program. A new middle school is now in the plans to open in 2017 and a new high school in 2020, both in the Hollywood or Leonardtown areas of the county. The high school was pushed out three years based on lower enrollment projections.

‘‘Elementary school enrollment is increasing and it will take several years for it to catch up to the middle school,” Howe said. Right now middle and high have been flat.

Three new elementary schools are in the pipeline. The first, recently named Evergreen Elementary, is set to open in the Wildewood community in the fall of 2009. Two more elementary schools planned for the center of the county are now set to open in 2011 and 2014.

‘‘There’s time for these to be aligned differently based on enrollment,” if need be, said Brad Clements, chief operating officer.

Board of education members voiced no concerns or questions before unanimously voting to approve the capital improvements program and send it to the county commissioners. Board member Gary Kessler was not at the meeting.

‘‘All of these items have been presented before,” Clements said. And the board of education will see the projects again when they come forward later this year for the local capital improvements program.

After a meeting with the commissioners, Clements said he hopes to be able to attach a letter of endorsement from the county board and have the plan sent to the state public school construction program by Oct. 5.

E-mail Jesse Yeatman at jyeatman@somdnews.com.