Maryland school planners are recommending that Anne Arundel County receive $1.2 million for school construction in the 1996 fiscal year -- about one-sixth of the county's total request.
The news could mean the county Board of Education will have to postpone plans to begin architectural designs on additions and renovations for Jacobsville and Fort Smallwood elementary schools. A $24 million plan to renovate Broadneck High School and build an addition also is in jeopardy.
"The Interagency Committee hasn't made a final decision about how much money we'll get," said an optimistic Rodell Phaire, director of facilities planning and construction for the school board. "It's a staff recommendation. We'll wait and see what the IAC's decision is."
The Interagency Committee, known as the IAC, oversees all public school construction in Maryland. If the agency approves planning for a project, it means the state practically guarantees to split construction costs and provide that money a year later.
For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1995 and ending June 30, 1996, the IAC has $80 million to divide among the 23 counties and Baltimore City. Projects that aren't approved are usually delayed.
"We got $283 million in project requests statewide," said Yale Stenzler, executive director of the IAC. "So far, the staff has recommended allocating $53.4 million for specific projects."
On Tuesday, Anne Arundel and other school officials lobbied for "a slice of the $26 million that's still available," Dr. Stenzler said.
The IAC will make its committee-wide decision within the next two weeks, he said.
Local school administrators can lobby the state Board of Public Works, which has the final say on spending.
Anne Arundel's school board initially sought $6.4 million in state money, including $2.7 million that would have been used for the Broadneck High renovation and an addition so ninth-graders could attend the school.
The plan for Jacobsville and Fort Smallwood elementaries also is important to Anne Arundel school administrators, and they say they'll fight to get state money for it. "At Jacobsville, we have a 30-year-old building, and at Fort Smallwood, we have a 20-year-old building," Mr. Phaire said. "If we build a new school, we'd still have to go back and renovate the two other schools."
Building additions onto each school to lessen overcrowding and renovating the schools to bring them up to "today's standards," makes more sense from a practical viewpoint, Mr. Phaire said.