Nearly $33 million in local and state funds is being sought by Harford County Public Schools for five major capital projects in the next fiscal year, including the limited renovation of Joppatowne High School and starting the planning process for an eventual renovation or replacement of Homestead-Wakefield Elementary School in Bel Air.
The five projects, in addition to Joppatowne and Homestead-Wakefield, include replacing the roofs at Bel Air Middle School and the Center for Educational Opportunity in Aberdeen — the latter being the home of HCPS’ Alternative Education Program — as well as HVAC system improvements for Abingdon Elementary School.
The projects, which were presented to the Board of Education Aug. 10, are slated to be part of the school system’s Capital Improvement Program for fiscal 2022. The presentation last week was the second time the proposed CIP has been brought before the school board, following the first presentation during the board’s July 13 meeting.
The list of major projects will be before the board once again in September for a vote, and then HCPS officials will submit it to the state in October, Cornell Brown, assistant superintendent for operations, told board members.
The second portion of the CIP, which covers smaller projects that are locally funded only, will be presented to the board in December for its approval, then submitted to the county government in January, Missy Valentino, facilities planner, said.
“There’s many considerations that we take into account when developing the [capital] budgets,” Valentino said. “Of course, at the center of everything are the students.”
School system officials are seeking $14.15 million in state funds and $18.83 million in local money, or a total of $32.98 million for the major projects, according to Valentino.
That includes a combined $18.7 million for the second year of construction on the limited renovation project at Joppatowne High, which has been scheduled to start during the current 2020-2021 fiscal year and is projected to cost $42.02 million total. Joppatowne is “number one” in the list of major projects, Valentino said.
Replacing the roof at Bel Air Middle School takes the No. 2 slot, with $1.5 million requested from the state next year. The $7.4 million project received all of its local funding this year, according to the CIP.
Next, officials are seeking state approval to begin planning at the local level how Homestead-Wakefield Elementary School will be upgraded, and they have put a request for $6 million in local funds for planning in the CIP. Members of the Homestead-Wakefield community have spent years advocating for major renovations or a replacement of the aging facilities — a scope study on improvements to the school was completed in 2009, and the school system received funding from the county government this year to update that study.
The total cost of the Homestead-Wakefield project is still to be determined, according to the CIP. The fourth-ranked project is replacing the roof at the CEO in Aberdeen. A combined $4.3 million, the full cost of the project, is being requested.
The fifth and final project involves the chiller and pneumatic controls in the HVAC system at Abingdon Elementary School. Officials are requesting $2.3 million in state and local funds, also covering the full project cost.
Board members did not have any questions on the proposed CIP, although member Sonja Karwacki thanked Brown and Valentino for “a meaningful and succinct presentation.”