The report on Harford County Public Schools building needs is in, and Havre de Grace is out.
Members of the Jacobs Engineering Group project team, who have been hired by the Harford County government to assess all county buildings and facilities and develop a countywide facilities master plan, presented their findings related to school system facilities to the Harford County Board of Education Monday.
Not all board members, however, agreed with the team's findings, especially with the rankings of the facilities that are in the worst shape and should be targeted for extensive renovations or replacement.
The 10 buildings that have the highest overall scores in terms of their needs in descending order are – starting at number 1 – the John Archer School near Bel Air; Old Post Road Elementary School in Edgewood; the intermediate building at Youth's Benefit Elementary School in Fallston; the primary building at Youth's Benefit; the Homestead building at Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School in Bel Air; the Hickory Annex, which is the school system's headquarters for facilities management; Hickory Elementary School; Prospect Mill Elementary School near Bel Air; Roye-Williams Elementary School near Havre de Grace; and the main building at William Paca-Old Post Road, according to a list included in the summary report for the county.
Board member Tom Fitzpatrick, who represents the Havre de Grace area and has been working with members of the community to push state and county officials to replace the aging Havre de Grace Middle and High School buildings, took issue with the rankings.
"I found it rather odd that three facilities in our school system that are at least 50 years old did not make that list," Fitzpatrick said, citing Havre de Grace Middle, Havre de Grace High and Joppatowne High School.
School officials have been developing architectural plans to create a replacement combined middle and high school for Havre de Grace that would support 1,300 students, but those plans are on hold as Harford County will not provide its share of capital funding for construction.
Harford County Executive Barry Glassman announced shortly after he took office that he wants to curtail capital funds for projects throughout Harford and focus on the county government's "human capital."
Fitzpatrick noted that Havre de Grace Middle was built in 1967, and "it has never received a comprehensive renovation."
"It's hard for me to understand why a building like that is not number one on your list," he said.
Scott Leopold, of the facility planning firm DeJONG-RICHTER, who is part of the Jacobs project team, presented the team's findings to the board, along with Jacobs representatives Mark Pleskow and Chappell Jordan.
Leopold explained that the facility rankings are based on a number of factors, including the Facility Condition Index, which is the percentage of deficiencies in each building versus the replacement costs.
Other factors include the population served, safety and security issues and availability of funding, according to the summary report.
Safety factors include a lack of a secure entrance vestibule, where visitors would be contained before entering the main school, campuses where students and staff must cross parking lots or streets when going among buildings and schools that have open classrooms, or classrooms without walls, according to Leopold.
"It's 10 different factors that determine the prioritization," Leopold told Fitzpatrick. "It's set up that no single factor can override the system and trump it."
Leopold also noted there has been "significant investment" in Havre de Grace High School during the past five years, such as a systemic HVAC renovation, and the school has a smaller student population compared to other county high schools.
"It's a smaller community when compared to some of the other facilities, and so the dollars will reach more of the students in some of those larger facilities," he said.
Havre de Grace Middle is on the top of the Facility Condition Index list with a 41 percent rating, which is the worst, according to Leopold, followed by Youth's Benefit Elementary, Riverside Elementary School, Homestead Elementary School, the John Archer School, Fallston High School, Magnolia Middle School, the Center for Educational Opportunity in Aberdeen, George D. Lisby Elementary School in Aberdeen, Old Post Road Elementary and Fountain Green Elementary School, which is south of Bel Air.
Leopold noted those facilities all have a rating of at least 25 percent based on the condition of the buildings.
Jacobs was hired by the county in late 2013, and Leopold noted that many of the schools in the top FCI rankings have been through, or are going through, significant renovations and replacements.
Examples include the replacement of the roof at Lisby Elementary, an ongoing renovation of the HVAC systems at Fallston High and Magnolia Middle, and the replacement of Youth's Benefit, which began during last fall.
Leopold said renovation projects affect the scores.
"This is a framework for discussion," he said of the rankings. "This is a living process."
Board member James Thornton also expressed his concerns with a high ranking for John Archer, considering the school only serves about 100 students with special needs. He noted school officials have been working to integrate many other students with special needs into mainstream classrooms.
"I'm trying to follow the logic," Thornton said of the ranking.
Jacobs officials have recommended closing John Archer and relocating the programs to Bel Air Middle School.
They noted in the summary report that John Archer supports students who have "medically fragile special needs," but the current building is not set up for their needs, and they cited a recent Harford County Public Schools scope study to justify the move to Bel Air Middle.
"These students require a facility that is more similar to a hospital setting than a traditional school," according to the report.
Leopold told Thornton that John Archer provides "a county wide program," despite the small student population.
The Jacobs team members reiterated that the master plan is a living document and subject to change.
"I think the way in which the process is managed, and working with our funders at the county level, is also critical in developing some common platform," Thornton said.