IAC seeks statutory updates as school construction costs soar; school officials urge timing fixes

The Interagency Commission on School Construction presented Senate Bill 48, asking the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee to approve technical and statutory updates to help state and local officials manage sharply rising school construction costs.

"The purpose of these adjustments is to better equip the partner agencies — MSDE and DGS — to carry out our respective responsibilities around school district projects," Alex Donahue, executive director of the IAC, told the committee, citing changes required since the 2018 21st Century School Facilities Act expanded the commission's responsibilities.

Ed Casemeyer, chair of the IAC, said the agency is operating on a slimmer overhead rate than comparable grant‑management organizations and that the bill is intended to improve efficiency, coordination and the ability to use appropriations more effectively. "Buildings can be designed and built to last longer," Donahue added, but he said programmatic change and equipment lifespans mean districts will still need periodic renovation and reconfiguration.

School‑system representatives largely supported the bill’s cleanup but asked for clarifying amendments. Mary Pat Fannin, executive director of the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland, said the removal of a December 31 deadline for a "75% recommendation" and its apparent shift to a March 1 milestone would undermine local capital improvement planning. "Pushing that process out until March is really detrimental to our CIP planning process," Fannin said, asking the committee for clearer statutory language to preserve predictability for local boards of education and counties.

A facility director who identified herself in testimony as "Miss Warner" echoed concerns about reporting burdens. She said the bill's current language appears to require local education agencies to provide the statewide facility assessment data all in one year; she called that requirement “quite burdensome” and asked the committee to clarify timelines and reporting expectations.

Donahue said the statewide facility assessment already incorporates district‑provided information and that the agencies had agreed the statutory language should be interpreted to cover the full facility — including grounds and site features such as playgrounds and ADA access — rather than only buildings. He noted the law currently delays using statewide assessment results in grant awards until fiscal 2028 but said the agencies are preparing to weight condition and educational sufficiency data so they can be combined to direct funding to highest needs.

The committee concluded testimony on SB48 with no recorded vote at the hearing and with witnesses asking staff to draft clarifying language on timelines and reporting burdens before further action.

What happens next: The hearing concluded without a committee vote; witnesses said they would provide suggested amendments and clarifying language to committee staff.