Carroll County School Board members questioned the administration?s move to raise the funding priority level of the South Carroll High School fine arts center, suggesting the county was trying to dupe the state to get funding.
“I think we are playing a game moving it up, thinking we will get state funding,” Board Member C. Scott Stone said recently.
Administrators raised the $18.6 million center to No. 2 in the county?s Capital Improvement Program budget, from No. 7 a month ago, Superintendent Charles Ecker said.
School officials use the budget as a guide to get funding for projects.
However, the priority list on this construction budget doesn?t match a similar document, the Facilities Master Plan, which provides timelines and information on projects.
There were other projects, such as a kindergarten addition at the Freedom Elementary School, that were added to the budget but not included in the master plan.
Stone said a project high on the funding priority should receive it before others on the list, and the two plans should match.
Ray Prokop, director of facilities for the school system, said the two documents, which include the same facilities projects, were organized differently: The budget was based on priorities and the master plan on chronology.
He said his office was developing a response to the board?s concerns regarding the two documents. The board was expected to approve the two documents last week, but chose to delay the action until the Sept. 27 meeting because of the changes.
The elevation of the South Carroll fine arts center project was made after “internal discussions” and public feedback, which has increased in recent weeks, Prokop said.
Although parents lauded the change in priority, they questioned why the school?s modernization plan wasn?t also elevated.
The modernization plan for the 40-year-old building includes new electrical, plumbing and wiring systems, among other improvements, and is slated for funding in fiscal year 2013, according to the budget documents.
