The Howard County Board of Education approved a proposed capital budget for fiscal 2026 Thursday night, but failed to pass a fiscal 2027-2031 Capital Improvement Program and 2026-2035 Long-Range Master Plan to the state.
The proposed capital budget for 2026 includes a total request of $71,233,000 but was passed with a request for an additional $8 million in local funds to garner more funding from the state’s expected contribution. The budget seeks $54 million in local funding with the rest coming from the state’s CIP and Built to Learn processes.
The CIP and long-range master plan will be considered at the board’s next meeting, Oct. 10.
“It is our responsibility to pass this. It is one of our primary responsibilities, and not doing so puts us in a position where we risk not having funding from the state,” board Chair Jennifer Mallo said as Thursday’s meeting adjourned.
Failing to pass the CIP and Long-Range Master Plan means the school system will miss a deadline of Oct. 4 for plans to be submitted to the state. According to Daniel Lubeley, executive director of capital planning and construction for HCPSS, the approval of the capital budget will suffice for the school system’s initial submission as the state only allocates funds for the next fiscal year. Amendments can be submitted to the state by Nov. 30.
The capital budget includes funding for renovation and additions for Oakland Mills and Dunloggin middle schools, as well as roofing projects, playgrounds, technology, school parking lot expansions and relocatable classrooms.
The $8 million was included in the request for systemic renovation projects and playground equipment categories. With this additional request, the school system seeks to capitalize on the full amount of anticipated state funding and could receive $6 million for eligible capital improvement projects.
According to Lubeley, the county government instructed the school system to work within a $54 million mark, but there’s a possibility to receive additional funding, in which case HCPSS Chief Operating Officer Cornell Brown compiled a list of priorities for the board to consider.
“So our discussions have been the county executive and the budget office clearly directed to us that we have a mark of a certain amount that we would expect to receive, but we are aware that our needs far exceed what we’re receiving in funding from both the local government and the state government,” Brown said.
The school system can normally only afford to complete one major renovation project per year, leading to a several schools falling on a deferred maintenance list. There are criteria that determine the order of prioritization for projects in the budget, but they are being reconsidered. So, according to Lubeley, the prioritization order is based on the fiscal 2025 budget.
The Oakland Mills Middle School renovation and addition is at the top of the priority list for state projects through a Built to Learn funding request that HCPSS estimated at $10 million. The Dunloggin Middle School renovation and addition fell to the list of future projects and is estimated for fiscal year 2027.
Parents and students filled the room to offer testimony on the capital budget, sharing stories of poor facility conditions at Dunloggin Middle School, Centennial High School, Patapsco Middle School, Bryant Woods Elementary School and Oakland Mills Middle School, calling on the board to prioritize funding for their schools.
Linfeng Chen, an at-large board member, thanked speakers for their testimony saying he wishes it was possible to meet everyone’s needs as it was unpleasant to hear what’s happening at the schools.
“I think we have two issues, we need to make the pot bigger, really, and we need more funding, we need to be creative,” Chen said.
Board members discussed possibilities for different solutions to the funding problem, but a consensus wasn’t reached. Robyn Scates, the board member for District 1, asked Brown how long it would take for him to bring the board two or three solutions to begin with, because, “no one has come to us with the start.”
“We have the same thing, and that’s why we end up where we are today where the community’s frustrated. I know I’m frustrated,” Scates said.
