Starr proposes $1.55 billion capital improvements program budget — Gazette.Net

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said he prioritized adding classroom space in his newly proposed $1.55 billion Capital Improvements Program for fiscal years 2015 to 2020.

We are bursting at the seams, he said Monday at Highland Elementary School in Silver Spring, which is at maximum capacity.

Starr said the school system needs $2.2 billion to cover all of its capital improvement needs for the six-year period. He is proposing a $1.55 billion program, he said, because the county is currently facing fiscal restraints and the school system is not getting the funding it deserves from the state.

The proposed program is about $184 million higher than the current program, which covers fiscal years 2013 to 2018.

Starr said the program addresses the school systems ongoing, significant enrollment growth with a recommendation for 14 new classroom addition projects. The plan also maintains schedules for other, previously approved capacity projects, including five new schools.

Since 2007, he said, the school system has grown by 14,000 students; another 11,000 are expected over the next six years.

Even if the program were fully funded, Starr said, 13 school clusters are expected to be over capacity in fiscal 2020. Fifteen school clusters in the system are over capacity this fiscal year.

Most of the school systems growth has occurred in elementary schools, he said.

Of the 14 classroom addition projects, 12 are proposed for elementary schools.

Starr recommended five addition projects at elementary schools in the Downcounty Consortium, an area that he said has faced the countys largest growth in the last six years.

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Starr proposes $1.55 billion capital improvements program budget -- Gazette.Net