Howard County Public Schools seeks funds for space adequacy assessment; delegation approves LBIs as a batch

Cornell Brown, chief operating officer for the Howard County Public School System (HCPS), asked the delegation for support to fund consulting services to complete a space adequacy assessment of all school facilities.

Brown said the state's facilities assessment did not evaluate whether buildings support instructional programs, administrative space or wraparound services. "We would like to secure consulting services to complete that evaluation so that we can couple data that would look at how our buildings are performing from a space adequacy standpoint," Brown said. The assessment would produce deficiency data that HCPS would use to prioritize its capital program.

Faulkner Ridge Preschool modernization timing

When asked, Brown confirmed Faulkner Ridge is the Preschool Education Center currently in design. He said schematic design has been submitted to the state; if approved, construction would start in January 2026 with completion in 2027 for the 2027-28 school year.

Delegation action on LBIs

A motion to "move all the LBIs as a group" was made during the meeting and the delegation voted in favor of moving LBIs. Several delegates and the chair noted that funding available for LBIs is limited this year; Maureen Evans (county administration) warned that "this year's funding available for LBIs is extremely limited, and it is certain that we will not be able to fund every LBI."

Provenance: The request and the delegation's batch motion were discussed during the LBI agenda item; the HCPS presentation on space adequacy and Faulkner Ridge design timeline were given by Cornell Brown and recorded in the transcript.