Dr. McCabe said the Board of Education and county commissioners should reconsider timing for two planned school additions after “conditions have changed since the board made the decision to move forward with additions.” The board received a draft capital improvement plan (CIP) in September and is scheduled to vote on the CIP at its October meeting.

The discussion centered on two projects: Freedom Elementary (two additions totaling five classrooms to replace six relocatable classrooms on site) and Sykesville Middle (a 10-classroom addition). Board and staff presentations said the Freedom project now carries about $1.3 million in additional local cost because a sprinkler requirement for the addition triggered the need for a fire pump. That pump requires connection to an emergency generator and related upgrades, “a domino effect” that increased the local share, staff said.

Why it matters: state participation in school construction is driven in part by projected enrollment and state-rated capacity. County staff told the joint meeting that enrollments in the southern region have declined for two successive years and that three weeks into the new school year the trend continued. That drop created roughly 300 available seats in the region compared with earlier projections showing no available seats, officials said. For Sykesville, staff said the decline reduces anticipated state participation and could lower an estimated state-eligible share from about $10.3 million to roughly $7.1 million if certain boundary adjustments and a waiver are approved; if those adjustments are not approved, staff warned, the county’s local cost could be higher.

Board and county staff described the projects’ history: feasibility studies were commissioned in February 2022, projects were added to the CIP in February 2023, and design is complete. Staff emphasized that design costs have been spent but the county would still need capital funds to proceed to construction. “Before we proceed to construction, it felt like this was the perfect timing to have this conversation with the two boards,” a county staff member said.

Discussion points included site constraints at Freedom, which staff said occupies about half the acreage typically used for a new elementary school today and would require relocating a recently installed playground and building retaining walls. Several commissioners and a board member urged caution because Freedom is a 70-year-old building that may need eventual replacement rather than repeated investment: “If we keep investing, the rationale for a new building could keep getting pushed off,” Commissioner Krebs said.

Board member Zimmer and others raised redistricting and alternative program options. Staff said the system’s phased pre-K expansion (two full-day pre-K classrooms per elementary in phases) factors into project timing; Freedom currently lacks an on-site pre-K and the planned addition would add pre-K capacity. Staff also discussed the state’s blueprint process and an ongoing waiver with the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC/AIB consultants), saying that earlier concerns about large staff reallocations under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future appear less severe than initially feared.

No formal motions were made at the joint meeting. Commissioners and board members expressed differing views: some urged pausing the projects to monitor two more years of official enrollments and to avoid sunk-cost decision-making; others urged moving ahead to avoid postponing needed repairs and modernizations.

What happens next: the Board of Education will take a formal vote on the CIP at its October meeting. County staff noted the design funds already spent would be a sunk cost if construction is paused, but that operating the schools as-is is feasible in the short term—the relocatable classrooms and current traffic/parking challenges would remain.

Clarifying details from the meeting: staff said the state’s annual enrollment reporting dates are Sept. 30 (systemwide counts) and Oct. 31 (special program counts); staff provided updated, unofficial three-week enrollment figures ahead of state certification. Staff said the county’s local guidelines typically assume minimum elementary site size around 15 acres, while Freedom’s site is substantially smaller. The Freedom cost increase of about $1.3 million was presented as the incremental local cost tied to sprinkler/pressure/fire-pump requirements; the original Sykesville estimate referenced in discussion was about $10.3 million, with a potential reduced state-eligible estimate of roughly $7.1 million under best-case waiver/boundary adjustments.

Ending: Board members and commissioners agreed the October Board of Education vote need not be irrevocable and several suggested pausing or phasing decisions while monitoring official enrollment certifications and the ongoing state waiver process. The joint discussion was intended to inform that October action.