Charles Board Advances Plans For Waldorf High School

Project Still Not Fully Funded by County

The Charles County Board of Education voted last week to move ahead with plans for a new high school in Waldorf, despite lacking a commitment from county commissioners for a full operating budget.

The proposal for the $73 million school, which is scheduled to open in 2013, passed 5 to 2, with board members Jennifer S. Abell and Collins A. Bailey dissenting. Abell and Bailey said that although they support a new school, they do not want to add financial strain to the school system.

"Not one of the sitting five current commissioners can make a commitment that they would help in finding the money to fund the operating costs year after year," Abell said before voting.

The Charles Board of Commissioners unanimously voted this month to give $10 million to the Board of Education toward opening the high school in 2013.The school board estimated that it will cost closer to $18 million to operate the school in its first year and $14 million in each subsequent year.

School board Chairman Donald M. Wade said that he has asked Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) three times for the money to build a high school but that because the school board did not have support from county commissioners or state legislators, the project was not approved.

"Now we have come to this last opportunity," said Wade, who added that the current fiscal situation would generate lower bids and that the school board would get more for its money. "That is all that is. It is a part of the process."

The school board's vote last week moves plans for the new high school to state officials for approval. The project is expected to qualify as "necessary" because the county's six high schools are overcrowded by 1,200 students. The state Board of Public Works should make a decision by the end of the year, and the General Assembly will have final approval.

School board member Pamela A. Pedersen voted for the new school but said she will "push and shove and scream and yell at those who must provide the funding to do the right thing" and pay for the school's opening and operating costs.

Before the vote, Elizabeth Brown, president of the Education Association of Charles County, told the school board that it "should insist on a commitment of full funding before agreeing to open a new school. Otherwise, you may have to resort to cutting $8 million from your operating budget to cover the difference, and that would be devastating to students and teachers."

Brown suggested that commissioners dedicate $8 million from the county's rainy-day fund to cover the remaining costs.

School board member Roberta S. Wise said she thinks the economy "is moving in a positive direction."

County commissioners have repeatedly said they think the county's finances will rebound and do not see long-term funding of the school as problematic.

Despite the economy, commissioners "are doing everything to support" the county's schools, board President Wayne Cooper (D-At Large) said.