Board of Public Works Approves School Construction Funding

school constr
Frederick County: Lincoln Elementary, LEED Silver, Renovation/Addition: Occupied Fall 2012. Image courtesy of the Public School Construction Program.

On May 14, 2014, the Board of Public Works met to approve the final funding and planning recommendations of the Interagency Committee on School Construction for the FY 2015 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for school construction.   The funding allocation of $325.256 million for 183 specific projects includes $6.48 million for eight (8) FY 2014 Air Conditioning Initiative projects, $361,000 for State-Owned Relocatables, and $660,000 for the outsourcing of design reviews by the Department of General Services.  The FY 2015 CIP also includes approval of planning for 21 major projects and for three kindergarten projects.

In order to conserve resources and expedite the communication of the IAC recommendations, the Public School Construction Program has posted the approved FY 2015 Capital Improvement Program on the website at www.pscp.state.md.us.  From the homepage, click on “Annual Capital Improvement Programs” in the left-hand column.  The FY 2015 CIP will appear; the complete listing of each LEA’s CIP requests and approved projects can be found in a document next to the name of the school district.  The Introduction and Sections 1 – 18 has general information about the program and an overview of statewide CIP requests and recommendations. For more information, contact the Public School Construction Program at (410) 767-0611.

CIP requests
FY 2006-2014 School Construction Planning and Funding Requests. Image courtesy of the Public School Construction Program.

During the legislative session, David Lever, Executive Director of the Public School Construction Program made a presentation to MACo’s Legislative Committee on Public School Construction, including capital requests for funding from 2006-2014. For more information on this session, see the full presentation and our previous posts, Senate Committee Considers Public School Construction Capital Budget and Bill on Relocatable Classroom Air Quality Proceeds to Passage.

This spring, the Governor issued an Executive Order requiring the Interagency Committee on School Construction, the Department of Budget and Management, and the Department of Legislative Services to study and make recommendations on public school construction financing.  For more information, see our previous post, State to Study School Construction Funding, or contact Robin Clark, Policy Analyst at the Maryland Association of Counties.