The Queen Anne's County Board of Education on June 4 approved the educational specification (Ed Spec) for Centerville Middle School and directed staff to proceed with the feasibility study phase of planning.

The Ed Spec is a programmatic document that sets educational goals, room-by-room space needs and staffing, technology and equipment expectations for a school project. The district presented the Ed Spec as the basis for the next planning step: a feasibility study that will evaluate options including renovation of the existing building, construction of a new facility on the current site while the old building remains in use, or repurposing other district properties.

Darryl Bariclo, supervisor of facilities and design, told the board that the state funds school projects against a state-rated capacity (SRC) tied to current enrollment. WGM Architects' Jeremy Klein said Centerville Middle School's current enrollment for grades 6–8 is 501 students and the state's SRC for the building is 659. The Ed Spec anticipates program space of roughly 95,600 square feet (including pursuit of an additional 3,000 square feet of "cooperative use" gym space that would require a memorandum of understanding with Queen Anne's County Parks and Recreation).

District staff discussed one scenario to increase the SRC for the site: moving one or more elementary grade cohorts into the middle-school facility (a model the district used at Sellersville), which would increase the state funding participation for the project. Staff emphasized that the Ed Spec itself does not determine whether the project will be renovation or new construction; those decisions will come from the feasibility study.

The feasibility study will evaluate four broad options (do nothing, minor updates, renovation, replacement) and will also examine whether the Centerville Middle site could accommodate career and technical education (CTE) programs now at the high school. The board approved the Ed Spec and the motion to proceed; the feasibility study will be presented to the board once complete.

The motion to approve the Ed Spec passed by voice vote during the June 4 meeting.

Next steps: district staff will complete the feasibility study, solicit an architectural firm for design services if the board approves, and present findings and recommendations to the board for further action.