Charles County Public Schools is building a new elementary school scheduled to open in the 2018 – 19 school year. This new school, which will be the school system’s 22nd elementary school, will be located off of Billingsley Road in White Plains near Greenhaven Run and Worthington neighborhoods. This addition is being made in order to account for the growing population in Charles County.
Charles County’s school system currently has 26,300 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, and the student population is still growing. The change in headcount and full-time equivalent student enrollment increased by about 75 students in the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years. Due to the growing student population, CCPS has decided to direct its resources toward reducing overcrowding. This means building new schools. However,, some of the currently existing schools are in need of renovation.Therefore, the CCPS budget must address both overcrowding and aging facilities.
In the Fiscal Years of 2017 to 2021, CCPS is planning on renovating various schools in its school system. These schools include Dr. Mudd, Turner, and Indian Head Elementary Schools, as well as McDonough and Westlake High Schools. The county will also be replacing the roof on Matula Elementary School and the bleachers at Milton Somers Middle School. In addition to these renovations, CCPS is planning on adding full-time kindergarten classes to Berry, Malcom, and Craik Elementary Schools. As can be seen, despite making a new addition to the school system, the county is still planning on renovating and improving many of its preexisting schools.
In order to maintain a healthy budget that can manage both renovation and construction, Superintendent Kimberly Hill and Board of Education President Virginia McGraw have appealed to the state Board of Public Words (BPW) for $6 million in additional school construction funding for “final construction funding for our newest school, a systemic renovation for an aging school, planning approval and construction funding for kindergarten additions and planning approval for a new elementary school.” Hill expressed this to BPW.
One, however, must question how a new elementary school will strain the budget despite increased funding. CCPS already made a new addition to the school system with St. Charles High School, which first opened in 2014. The increased funding strain that this addition put on the budget can be seen by how St. Charles High School had a recurring cost for phase two in the fiscal year of 2016. This recurring cost amounted to about $1.5 billion.
In the budget for the Fiscal Year of 2016, the budget for each school is based on enrollment. The school based allocation for La Plata High School will be $74, 224 and the operating expense will be $152,110, for a grand total of $226,334. This may seem fair due to this amount being based on the school’s enrollment. However, the school requires either further renovations or to be rebuilt. Recently, renovations have been completed on the gym. Yet, one may suggest that further renovations still need to be completed as the school was first founded 89 years ago in 1927.
In the construction of a new elementary school and planned renovations of many schools in Charles County’s school system, one must consider the demands of each school, not only in terms of budget, but in terms of the aging schools. Is constructing a new elementary school meeting what overcrowding mandates, or is rebuilding an aging school to allow for a greater student population better meeting this need?
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