Mount Hebron High School needs upgrades, but Howard County should wait until a facilities assessment is complete, school and county officials said.
“I want to make sure we don?t have a $45 million mistake,” said Howard County Council Member Courtney Watson, D-District 1.
School officials have planned assessments for Mount Hebron, Atholton, Century and Hammond high schools, which are older or have not had recent renovations, to determine need for long-term facilities investments.
“We?ve already initiated a request for an engineering firm to do an initial assessment,” said Ken Roey, the school system?s facilities and planning top official, to School Board and County Council members Friday.
Findings are expected by May 1, which could better inform budget decisions.
School officials also want to examine every school, a $1.5 million undertaking for which they have requested funding in the fiscal 2008 capital budget.
“This is something we really need to pursue aggressively in the future, so the school system isn?t faced with isolated repairs without context of other school?s needs,” Superintendent Sydney Cousin said.
The budget includes more than $31 million during the next two years for renovations to Mount Hebron. School officials have presented five options for the school, ranging from a $19 million systemic renovation to the construction of a new school.
School Board President Diane Mikulis said she was uncomfortable making a decision on such costlyrenovations in a short period of time and without the context of a full assessment. The board has not taken a position on it, she said.
The building?s facilities have faced intense scrutiny lately, most recently last month after raw sewage leaked into a classroom.
However, the plumbing issues will be fixed regardless of whether school officials decide to renovate, build a new school or delay a decision, Mikulis said.
