School systems struggling to maintain their aging facilities could face a cut in state funding designed to put a dent in ballooning backlogs of maintenance work.
Gov. Martin O?Malley has proposed slicing $2.6 million from the state?s Aging Schools Program by reducing funding for grants and enhancements for six counties with the largest backlogs of work.
During a Senate budget subcommittee hearing Monday, the state?s nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services recommended another $1.12 million in cuts to eliminate the enhancements. The Aging Schools Program, created to help schools maintain older buildings until funding is available for
larger renovation projects, totaled $15.1 million in the current budget year. O?Malley?s budget would reduce the program?s budget to $12.5 million.
State Public School Construction Program Executive Director David Lever said the proposed reduction could jeopardize an estimated 30 projects that cost an average of $50,000 to $60,000 each.
“This program fills a needed gap between major capital projects and routine maintenance,” Lever said.
During the 2005 legislative session, the General Assembly used $3.6 million in excess state funds to beef up aging schools dollars for Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Talbot and Wicomico counties. Those extra dollars might not materialize at all in the 2008 budget if lawmakers decide to make the cuts.
On Monday, O?Malley toured General John Stricker Middle School in Dundalk with Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith touting his record $400 million in proposed school construction dollars. School facilities in Baltimore County were rated the fourth oldest in the state, behind Baltimore City, Kent and Prince George?s counties, according to state statistics.
The governor?s budget also left out an estimated $2 million to update a survey of the physical condition of schools in the state. The state Department of Education first conducted the survey, mandated by the Public School Facilities Act of 2004, in 2003 using existing funds and with the help of local school systems.
