When Vanessa Hiemenz walked her children into Silver Spring International Middle School for a back-to-school night last fall, she was stunned by the building’s outdated conditions.
“It was falling apart,” Hiemenz, 47, said. “I think a lot of parents felt like I did and we just started talking, ‘Like what is going on here?’”
As Montgomery County’s school board and county council decide which school projects to fund over the next six years, they are hearing from parents like Hiemenz about aging buildings and overcrowding. But construction costs and inflation have gone up, causing officials in Maryland’s most populous county to consider delaying some projects.
“The supply chain is one that’s impacted us greatly,” Montgomery Superintendent Monifa B. McKnight told county council members. The school system has not been able to get the materials as quickly as they are needed and prices have changed, she said. “We’ve had to increase the funding for a project — in some cases … almost double when you have to take into consideration the cost and inflation that’s over that time.”
The school system increased its six-year construction budget request more than 9 percent to $1.94 billion during negotiations this year due to “inflationary pressures and market conditions,” said Karla Silvestre, the school board president.
Across the country, school systems have similarly been impacted by escalating construction costs in a covid economy. In February, Fairfax County Public Schools officials in Virginia said their reserves dwindled from roughly $31 million to $16 million in about a year due to high construction costs. Volusia County officials in Florida upped a budget by $2.4 million for the construction of an elementary school because of the increased price of steel, aluminum and copper.
Many of the construction projects on Montgomery’s capital improvements list target overcrowding. The latest enrollment figures show that the school system has a little over 162,000 students, McKnight said, and the number of students is expected to increase to over 167,000 students by the 2028-29 school year. Among the projects is a new school planned for Burtonsville Elementary, a new high school in Gaithersburg, and additions at campuses including Northwood High to add more seats. There’s money requested for portables and HVAC replacements, and for renovations at Silver Spring International.
But as the council considers how to pay for it all, some of the projects could be held up, including a two-year delay of a Damascus High School renovation, a two-year delay for an addition at Highland View Elementary School and a one-year delay of Rockville’s Magruder High School project that will “address aging infrastructure,” according to the county. All three projects were previously delayed due to budget costs.
“We were not happy about that,” said Will Jawando (D-At Large), who chairs the council’s education and culture committee.
The school system submits its capital improvement funding priorities to the county executive, who decides what projects to include in their overall county budget proposal to the county council, which then considers how much of the request can be fulfilled. The council also will request the school system provide options of where costs can be reduced for guidance on their final decision.
Dawn Luedtke (D-District 7) said during a council work session this week that her constituents in parts of Upcounty and Midcounty have complained about feeling ignored by the county officials. “Damascus High School hasn’t had a refresh since 1978,” she said. “It is astounding that this part of the county has been repeatedly shoved to the back of the line.”
As a part of the county’s capital projects, an upgrade at Silver Spring International Middle School would have added roughly 400 seats to the school.
But in 2021, the plan was scaled back and $16 million from the project was reallocated to the Highland View Elementary School addition. School officials attributed the change to enrollment declines during the pandemic and cost escalations.
The middle school was built in 1934 originally as Montgomery Blair High School and was renovated in 1999 to house both Silver Spring International and Sligo Creek Elementary School.
This week, dozens of teachers, students and parents rallied outside of the school to push for the school board to restore its initial upgrade plans. The group recounted stories of ceiling tiles falling during the school day, sweltering classrooms that have reached almost 90 degrees and students with disabilities having difficulty navigating the building. They also want more security guards and cameras.
The current plans would include an addition to the school costing just over $20 million and scheduled to be completed in August 2025. It removed a classroom addition and an administration suite for the elementary school, said schools spokeswoman Jessica Baxter.
Under this scaled-down plan some changes would be made, including moving a gym inside the school instead of how it exists now in a separate building and locker rooms. Updates like those are appreciated, said Gretchen Winch, who has taught at the school for eight years, “but this needs to be a first step, not the only step, to improve student safety and well-being.” Winch added that some teachers left the school because of its disrepair; two current teachers told The Washington Post that they have considered leaving.
To address some of the safety concerns, school system officials have started a monthly committee to discuss problems and are reviewing areas that connect the middle and elementary schools.
The council’s review of the county’s capital projects is expected to finish in mid-May.