Ever since his appointment as superintendent for the Montgomery County Public Schools system, Thomas Taylor has heard various descriptions of aging school buildings from students and community groups.
But, through his capital improvement program, some buildings could undergo serious improvements.
In Rockville, Maryland, there is one MCPS property in need of attention. It’s a building that doesn’t have classrooms, and that school staffers say is, in some cases, making them sick.
Christine Handy, the president of the Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals, said the problems at the Carver Educational Services Center (CESC) posed serious concerns about safe air quality.
“Mold that impacts the air they breathe, bugs that bite and leave bumps and rashes, inadequate ventilation and concerns about air quality. These are not conditions that support wellness,” Handy said at a Sept. 4 school board meeting.
Handy told the board that while the building, which first opened in 1951 and served as the one public high school open to Black students in the county, is historically significant, it’s proven nearly impossible to address the impact of the deteriorating conditions.
“We keep removing carpet, then asbestos, before switching to tile and putting bleach on mold or even painting over it, which, by the way, does not eliminate the mold. Basically, we keep putting a Band-Aid on this building,” Handy said.
“We need immediate action to remediate these conditions.”
A solution through the private sector
Last month, Taylor pitched his possible solution, and it’s one used by local governments when costs for projects prove too steep for the public sector alone: plans for a “P3.”
A “P3” is a public-private partnership like those used in Prince George’s County to facilitate school construction. In his presentation, Taylor suggested that a “P3” adviser would effectively review MCPS’ building portfolio, assess the priority needs and then identify projects “that would have the greatest impact” to the school system.
Taylor said looking at ways to address the need to have workspace for staffers and a consolidation of existing administrative offices in an up-to-date facility, “could be an opportunity for the school system to explore some new and innovative ways to address some of these challenges.”
Andrea Swiatocha, with the school system’s Division of Facilities Management, explained at a November meeting that the CESC sits on 31 acres in Rockville, while a number of other administrative facilities are scattered across portions of Montgomery County.
While describing the “P3” approach, Swiatocha offered a caveat that whatever plan is developed, “it is important that we have a really tight scope” to avoid add-ons that can spike the price of a project quickly.
“We need to come up with the scope, give that to the developer and they move forward with it,” she said. “That is key for these projects to be successful.”
Taylor said the project could prove to be a win-win for the school system, the community and the taxpayers.
“This is a particular area of Rockville that could see growth in a number of spaces, whether it was retail, restaurants, housing, private office space that gets leased out to Community Services, and could really be a one-stop shop, not just for MCPS families, but also Montgomery College,” Taylor told members of the school board.
The site of the CESC is along Route 355, just south of the Montgomery College Rockville Campus.
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