Education / School Construction and Capital Budgets
Speaker Jones: School Construction Will Be “The First Bill In”

Speaker Adrienne Jones announced her intention to make a "supercharged" school construction proposal the first order or business in the next legislative session. As legislators begin to look ahead to the 2020 legislative session, Speaker Adrienne Jones has identified school construction as a top priority. She references a bill passed by the House last session, but which failed to advance in the Senate. From coverage in the Baltimore Sun: Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne…

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July 13, 2019
Hogan Stays Silent on Release of FY 2020 Restricted Funding
Parks and Recreation / School Construction and Capital Budgets / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Hogan Stays Silent on Release of FY 2020 Restricted Funding

A Baltimore Sun article (2019-07-02) reported that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has not yet decided to release millions of dollars in funding that was fenced-off for conditional usage by the General Assembly. The standoff includes some funding for county governments for school construction and Program Open Space (POS). As previously reported on Conduit Street, the disputed funding includes $127 million for school construction, $8.5 million in local POS funding, $4 million for testing rape kits, and $3 million…

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July 2, 2019
A School Is Not A Road
School Construction and Capital Budgets
A School Is Not A Road

A statewide workgroup gets inside funding and facility issues that lie beneath the surface.  At the first meeting of the workgroup on school construction funding and facility assessments, Bob Gorrell, the Director of the Public School Construction Program described the challenges of public understanding of school facilities issues. Relatively few residents will enter a school to see its condition, while almost all residents will experience deteriorating roads and unsafe highways. The Workgroup on the Assessment…

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June 20, 2019
Education / School Construction and Capital Budgets
School Construction Funding Percents Static Through 2020

Maryland's county governments will receive the same percentages of funding from the State on their school construction projects in FY 2020, despite formula calculations that would have decreased the State's share in some cases. Maryland counties and the State share school construction costs - each providing some of the funding for new school buildings and major renovations. The amount that the State provides on any given project is determined in part by percentages set in…

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June 19, 2019
How Nice Should Your Kid’s School Be? Maryland’s Workgroup Reports Back.
County Budgets / County News / Education / School Construction and Capital Budgets
How Nice Should Your Kid’s School Be? Maryland’s Workgroup Reports Back.

A workgroup established by the General Assembly's 21st Century School Facilities Act releases findings and recommendations on educational specifications. Every local school system seeks the best public facilities for K-12 educational programs. Educational specifications, or "Ed Specs" as they are commonly called, provide guidance on standards for educational facilities statewide. Updates to these standards were the focus of a work group created by the General Assembly in the 21st Century School Facilities Act, passed in…

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June 18, 2019
Hogan Draws Differences With Legislative Leaders, Looks Ahead to “Battle”
Governor Larry Hogan (photo source: Wikipedia)
Education / School Construction and Capital Budgets / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Hogan Draws Differences With Legislative Leaders, Looks Ahead to “Battle”

Governor Hogan, fresh off an announcement he will not run for President, addressed a Maryland pro-business group and emphasized areas of difference with Democratic legislative leaders. Governor Hogan, an invited speaker before the Maryland Free Enterprise Foundation (nee Maryland Business for Responsive Government), emphasized his commitment to growing opportunities in Maryland, and resisted the notion that tax increases lie ahead to fund priority spending. From the Washington Post coverage: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is going…

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June 7, 2019
New For #MACoCon: Change Your Building’s Tune…And Save Big Bucks
Corporate Partners / News You Can Use / School Construction and Capital Budgets / Summer Conference
New For #MACoCon: Change Your Building’s Tune…And Save Big Bucks

Talk a walk-through tour of energy savings options on display right at the Ocean City Convention Center, and learn from potential partners how you can take home these money-saving innovations for your own buildings. Energy performance can either save money…or waste it. In this session, participants will go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ocean City Convention Center as we explore the mechanical and electrical systems that keep a building running. The hands-on demonstration will…

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June 5, 2019
State School Construction Contingencies Funding May Change for the Better
County Budgets / Education / School Construction and Capital Budgets
State School Construction Contingencies Funding May Change for the Better

The Interagency Commission on School Construction updates regulations around state school construction funding processes in an effort to ease administrative hurdles and expedite project completion. The Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) approved the publication of COMAR revisions including: Clarifications to best value procurement requirements Increases to time allowances for local school systems to ask the IAC to reconsider a decision Clarifications to emergency shelter requirements These proposed policy changes reflect input from county governments…

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May 16, 2019
Slight Increase to School Construction Costs and New School Size Allowances for FY 2021
School Construction and Capital Budgets
Slight Increase to School Construction Costs and New School Size Allowances for FY 2021

At the recent meeting of the Interagency Commission on School Construction, the Commission adopted a 3.4% increase to the statewide per-square-foot school building costs to $329 per square foot and changed their square footage allowances. The dollars per-square-foot figure annually adopted by the State's School Construction Commission represents to amount of funding that the State will contribute to school construction projects in the coming year. The State will still only contribute to a percentage of…

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May 16, 2019
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