December 11, 2008
Superintendent Nancy Grasmick, Chair
Members of the Interagency Committee on School Construction (IAC)
State Education Building
200 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Dear Superintendent Grasmick and Members of the IAC:
I am writing to you regarding a very serious situation with respect to the recent Prince George’s County request for public school construction funding submitted to the State Interagency Committee on School Construction. This request ignores the true needs our children and as a result, I am forced to request that the IAC send the request back to the County for revision. State school construction funds arefar too scarce to be allocated in a manner or to project that does not represent the greatest need of children in the County.
As you may be aware, in 2001, the County School Board commissioned an unbiased assessment of the facility conditions inPrince George’s County schools. The assessment was performed by 3D/I Parsons (3 D/I) which conducted a thorough study of the condition of all schools in the County over 15 years in age. All schools evaluated were ranked by 3D/I from worst to best condition based on an objective index of facility condition factors. In 2008, the County School Board ordered anupdate of the facility condition assessment which was again performed by 3D/I at a cost of $1.2 million. Although that study identified 8 schools with conditions so deplorable that they could not be renovated without the cost exceeding new construction, 7 of those schools are completely ignored in the County’s request.
It is indeed incredible that the County would propose to have children sitting in schools they know must be torn down while they request State funds for new schools not even justified by State enrollment criteria. In this regard, I would ask that you please review the chart below. This provides a comparison of the County’s top 15 school construction priorities contained in the recent IAC request and 3D/I Facility Condition ranking. The 3D/I assessment evaluated and ranked 210 schools in the County with a ranking of 1 being the worst and 210 being the best condition.
December 11, 2008
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Eight schools were identified as so poor in facility condition as to require demolition. As you can see only one school of the eight “poor” schools, Clinton Area Elementary, is included in the request and only planning funds are requested. Unfortunately, it is my understanding thatfor some reason the project has been proposed in a manner that it is not even eligible for State funds right now. Moreover, it is worth noting that 8 of the County’s top 15 priorities have questions as to whether they meet enrollment projections.
County Priority / School / 3/DI Ranking of Condition1 / New Elementary – Subregion VI – Planning / None*
2 / Doswell Brooks Elementary / 27
3 / Laurel High School Auditorium and Classroom Addition / 157*
4 and 5 / Potomac High School – Planning Approval Only / 86*
6 and 7 / Oxon Hill High School Replacement / 130*
8 / Greenbelt Middle School Replacement / 153
9 and 10 / Fairmont Heights High School – Planning and Approval / 84*
11 and 12 / New Elementary School - Fairwood - Planning and Approval / None*
13 / Hyattsville Area Elementary – Planning Approval Only / 67
14 / Clinton Area Elementary – Planning Approval Only / 5
15 / Bowie Area High – New High School / None*
* Board of Education top priorities for requested funds where questions exist as to whether enrollment projections meet State requirements for participation in the project
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Most importantly, I believe if the State were to go along with the County request contrary to the data and clear evidence from the 3D/I study, it would be a denial of the State Constitutional rights of the children in the schools identified as “poor”. The courts of our State have said quite clearly that all children wherever they may live in our State have a right to receive and "an adequate education measured by contemporary educational standards”.Those educational standards are violated when resources are diverted from children in schools in obvious need in a county to schools which don’t even meet the need requirements to be built in the first place.
I would like to note that my request is not just a matter of local disagreement. The issue at hand is that the County Board of Education has requested a total of $137.5 million from the State of Maryland towards projects which simply don’t meetobjective educational needs of children in our State. Out of the $137.5 million requested apparently only $32 million worth of projects meet State eligibility standards and are ready to move forward. By placing a high priority on ineligible projects, the County is losing out on the opportunity to have eligible and needier projects funded. Through use of a process that is not based on solely on merit, the County is actually hurting itself in the allocation process for limited State funds.
Another item which should be questioned ishow the Board of Education can justify a true “need” for State funds at time they are planning to spend over $36 million on a new administration building at Washington Plaza. This may be a worthwhile project for a later date but just as we are going to be forced to do at the State level, non-critical projects must be delayed until better economic times. It is morally wrong to put offices for bureaucrats at the front of the line and the health and safety of children in public schools last.
I have worked hard with other state officials to allocate as much as possible in State funds for public school construction. Under the leadership of Governor Martin O’Malley, the State has provided record levels of school construction funding to local governments in recent years. These record levels of funding resulted the highest levels of State public school construction funding provided to Prince George’s in the history of the County. I am committed and supportive of the needs of the County but I would like to see that the greatest needs are met and I must demand accountability for State funds.
I would therefore request the IAC work with the County to revise the recent request and come to a resolution that is no longer amerely a political document but is objective and fairand places the County in the best position to receive State funds for our many needs. I certainly hope the County will come to the table to work with you towards this critical goal.
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State funds are too limited and our economic times are too desperate to subject thegreat needs and safety of our children to political panderingby local officials. I thank you in advance for your work to meet the true needs of children in Prince George’s County and across the State.
Sincerely,
Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.
cc:The Honorable Martin O’Malley
The Honorable Michael E. Busch
The Honorable Jack Johnson
The Honorable Anthony Muse, Senate Delegation Chair
The Honorable Melony Griffith, House Delegation Chair
Members of the Prince Georges Senate Delegation
Members of the Prince Georges House Delegation
Members of the Prince Georges County School Board