Anne Arundel school officials outline $230 million FY27 capital-improvement request and warn of steep state funding decline

Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) officials on Sept. (workshop date on meeting agenda) presented the superintendent's recommended FY2027 capital budget and six-year Capital Improvement Program, requesting $230,000,000 for the coming fiscal year. The presentation described $164,000,000 for major capital projects and $66,000,000 for recurring capital programs and said state funding projected for the county from the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) would fall to about $20,900,000 from a historical average near $39,000,000.

The board heard why the budget matters: aging facilities, rising construction costs and shifting state funding rules that have reduced predictable, enrollment-based allocations. AACPS Chief Operating Officer Bill Heizer and Kyle Roof, AACPS executive director of facilities, said the district manages about 130 facilities averaging 30 years in age and has a replacement value the presentation listed as $8.2 billion. Roof described how unit construction costs have risen sharply since 2015 and said the IAC unit cost per gross square foot increased from $250 in 2015 to $513 in 2026.

Board members asked staff to clarify how funding shortfalls and project priorities would affect local schools, and staff provided project-level requests, feasibility timelines and a list of recurring programs the district proposes to fund in FY27.

Among the…