January 14, 2019
The Montgomery County Board of Education passed amendments Nov. 27 to increase funding for renovations, additions and studies into the implications of boundary changes and school capacities for students across the county.
The money is part of amendments to the Capital Improvement Program, which ensures repairs and replacements of aging infrastructure in the county are timely.
“We have a lot of overcrowded schools,” board member Pat O’Neill said. “It would require about $800 million to get all of the kids out of portables and about $760 million to catch up on all of our heating and air conditioning and roofs and windows that need to be replaced. What’s approved is probably not even enough money to get everything done that we need.”
Whitman isn’t in dire need of repairs and receives enough money to keep the school maintained at an adequate level, assistant principal Rainer Kulenkampff said. Whitman’s renovation, which is scheduled to start next year, had been previously approved.
The Board appropriated an additional $3 million toward bathroom maintenance, and $2 million to install water bottle fillers at all schools.
