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Charles County lays out $431/sq ft construction baseline, seeks state funds for La Plata renovation and kindergarten additions
Summary
Chief of operations presented the school system’s five‑year capital improvement plan to the board, highlighting La Plata High School renovation and capacity addition (300–400 seats) and proposed kindergarten additions; district expects a higher state cost share for FY28 and anticipates extra enrollment‑growth funding.
Charles County Public Schools officials on Aug. 12 presented the system’s five‑year capital improvement program (CIP), asking the Interagency Committee on Public School Construction for funding for 29 projects including a renovation and addition at La Plata High School and kindergarten additions at multiple elementary schools.
Why it matters: The CIP sets the district’s requests for state construction funding and helps the county plan local matching dollars. District staff said the Interagency’s new construction cost guidance for the cycle uses $431 per square foot for renovations and $513 per square foot for new schools, and that the state’s cost‑share for building brick‑and‑mortar projects rose to 66% for FY28.
Major projects highlighted: Mike Heim, chief of operations and supporting services, told the board the district is in design for a proposed renovation and addition to La Plata High School, which he said needs updates and capacity to address growth; the district is planning to add roughly 300–400 seats there. Heim also said the district seeks construction funding for a kindergarten (K) addition at Thomas Higdon Elementary; projects at Wade and J.C. Parks were already in progress and Higdon — if funded — would leave Mitchell Elementary as the only remaining school without a K addition in the same planning area.
Relocatable classrooms and immediate needs: Heim said St. Charles High School is exceeding its state‑rated capacity and the system is installing an 8‑unit modular building on site; assembly was underway, with water and electrical connections still to be finished prior to students occupying the units. He described a need for infrastructure projects — boilers, chillers, cooling towers and switchgear — to address aging systems across the district.
State funding and timing: Heim said the IAC will give a projected allocation in three phases (75% in November, 90% in February, final in May) and that the district anticipates near‑$8.9 million in CIP allocations on average but expects additional funding from the Enrollment Growth and Relocatable Classroom (EGRC) fund this cycle, estimating it could receive as much as $6 million from that source — up from roughly $1.2 million last year.
Local process notes: Heim reviewed the report’s five‑year project list and noted that projects early in the list are those the district hopes to fund soon. He stressed that state approval for a new high school requires surrounding schools to be close to capacity, which factors into the district’s timing for new middle‑school or high‑school projects.
Ending: Heim said the county has been a strong local partner on funding and that projects already underway — including modular classrooms and phased open‑space enclosures at older schools — will continue while the district awaits the IAC’s projected allocations later in the fiscal year.
