St. Mary's County planners warn deferred maintenance threatens school systems' basic needs

Kim Howes, St. Mary's County public schools' capital planning director, told the Planning Commission the system's Educational Facilities Master Plan centers on preserving life-safety systems — keeping roofs watertight and HVAC running — across more than two million square feet of school buildings.

"What we're really focused on, at this point is keeping our roof dry and watertight, making sure we have heat and cooling at the appropriate time of the year," Howes said, outlining priorities that she described as the "bare minimum" to avoid catastrophic failure. She said staff compiled a six-year program of 18 projects that together total about $251,000,000 in state and local spending and estimated that keeping the program on schedule would require roughly $22,000,000 from the county and $25,000,000 from the state each year. At current state allocation levels of about $4.8 million annually, Howes warned the state share could take decades to reach needed levels without policy changes.

The presentation noted the county will pursue multiple funding pathways, including bundling roof and HVAC work to reduce mobilization costs and applying for federal grants. Howes also highlighted market constraints slowing delivery: contractors increasingly favor work that can be completed faster and some firms now prioritize data-center construction over phased school HVAC projects. She said those market shifts, combined with tariffs and Buy American requirements, are raising costs and lengthening schedules.

Howes said staff will bring the CIP to the Board of Education on Sept. 1 and then seek the county commissioners' endorsement for state submission. The commission praised the report and requested corrected minutes from a prior meeting be returned for approval at the next session.