Teachers Hold Out For New School

Mt. Hebron Redo Fails to Please All

A group of Mount Hebron teachers say they'll press the Howard County Council to spend tens of millions of dollars more to replace their aging high school despite the Board of Education's decision last week to support a $57.3 million renovation.

"This is not a done deal. There's no question we can have an impact," said Mark Cates, a longtime social studies teacher and former athletic director and football coach at the Ellicott City school. "We're doing what we have to do to get the system to look at a new school."

School board members voted 5 to 1 last week to support a two-year renovation, which could be the costliest construction project in the county's history. The renovation would demolish and rebuild portions of the school; address long-standing mechanical, heating and plumbing problems; and improve traffic patterns on school grounds. The Mount Hebron facility is 43 years old.

"We don't have the option of building a new school. That is absolutely not realistic," board member Ellen Flynn Giles said. This plan "positions us to use this building well for the next 20 to 30 years."

Board member Diane Mikulis, citing the renovation's escalating cost, voted against the project.

Cates and fellow teacher Scott Robinson said support for a new school, which could cost at least $80 million, remains strong among the 107 teachers and instructional assistants who signed a proposal sent last week to County Executive Ken Ulman (D) as well as school board and County Council members. They urged officials to consider replacing schools if the price of renovating them exceeds half the cost of a new building. The latest renovation plan for Mount Hebron, they said, amounts to 71 percent of the school's estimated replacement cost.

"Let's just start over. We want it done right," Robinson said. "It has to be looked at long term over a 30-year period."

Mary Jane Barbato-Grauso, president of the Howard County PTA Council, also expressed doubts about the renovation after last week's school board meeting.

"Are we going to take care of everything for $57 million?" she asked.

County Council member Greg Fox (R-Western Howard), whose district includes the high school, said in an e-mail this week that he wants to see a financial analysis comparing options for the renovation, plus estimates of operating costs.

Ulman said Monday that he was encouraged by the school board's vote. When he presented his $421 million capital budget earlier this month, Ulman placed $27 million as partial funding for Mount Hebron in a special holding account while details of the design were finalized.

Opposition to earlier renovation plans from Mount Hebron community residents and some education officials prompted revisions to the schematic design, including the addition of eight classrooms, wider hallways and expanded cafeteria and science labs. Those changes increased the estimated cost by more than $3 million.

"We've made great progress," said Cindy Ardinger, a member of the high school's PTSA executive board.

Linda Dombrowski, another PTSA executive board member, said the renovation plan "is going a long way in meeting the needs of the students."

The Mount Hebron project is expected to be discussed April 29 during a County Council public hearing on the capital budget.