Caroline County officials weigh modular classrooms, renovations to relieve overcrowding at Bowling Green Elementary

Caroline County supervisors and school officials met to debate a short-term plan to relieve overcrowding at Bowling Green Elementary School, hearing a school proposal to install modular classroom units for the upcoming school year and discussing longer-term renovations and a new elementary school timeline.

The school division presented three financing options for modular (factory-built) classroom units and an estimated infrastructure package; officials said a purchase order must be placed by June 2 for delivery and installation to meet a planned opening for students in August. Supervisors asked for more detail on costs, relocation expenses and site utilities; no vote was taken at the meeting and the supervisors recessed before taking formal action.

School officials said the modular option is intended as a short-term “bridge” to avoid placing classes and services in hallways or trailers scattered between sites. Doctor Rollins, a Caroline County Public Schools official, told the room that the division’s priority was having classroom space in place for August and noted the competing budget paths: county-funded purchase, a capital lease with option to buy, or an operational lease paid by the division.

“The first plans didn’t work. This has a huge financial impact with a timeline that’s too long for the immediate need,” Doctor Rollins said, urging a near-term decision so students will have classroom space when buses run in August. A vendor representative said the factory-built modular units the school described meet industrial building standards, have a one-year active…