Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Thursday afternoon that his school construction requests for the fiscal year starting this summer recognize the need for spending restraint in difficult times, but he said the same economic challenges "make the education of our future work force and leaders more important than ever," according to his prepared remarks.
The executive's annual message to the 15-member planning board on capital spending for 2012 offered highlights of a $670 million spending plan. Kamenetz focused on school construction, a contentious issue among many parents whose children are coping with crowded schools. The capital improvements budget also covers an array of maintenance projects, including roads, county buildings and parks.
The plan includes construction of three high schools and doubling the size of an elementary school. The request — much of which continues spending on projects that have begun — is part of what Kamenetz called the county's "commitment to ensuring that all of our schools are capable of giving our children the finest education possible."
In his two-page presentation, Kamenetz said the county's schools are among the oldest in the state, many of them opening more than 50 years ago. He praised the accomplishments of the school system but said that "our teachers cannot succeed, and our students cannot excel, if our classrooms and facilities are inadequate to provide what is required for a quality 21st-century education."
The capital improvements plan is for the fiscal 2012 year, starting July 1, and the plans are drafted every other year. The $600 million includes $285 million in borrowing approved in a referendum in the November election, which can be spent during more than one fiscal year, county spokeswoman Ellen Kobler said.
Kamenetz said the $285 million borrowing referendum was "the highest in county history" but is balanced by lower borrowing in capital spending plans for 2014 and 2016 to maintain the county's AAA bond rating.
The plan continues spending for three new high schools: the George Washington Carver Center for the Arts and Technology in Towson, which is just about completed, and a complex in the southeastern part of the county for two schools, Sollers Point and Dundalk, where ground was broken last year. All three high schools will be air-conditioned, Kamenetz said.
Also included is money to double the size of Hampton Elementary School in Lutherville, built for about 300 students and now accommodating just over 500. The addition will add room for 300 students. That project is expected to begin this spring and be completed by August 2012.
Kamenetz said he is waiting to hear whether the state will provide $6.5 million requested for the project by the county school board.