Facilities Task Force Report Takes Long-Range View of Wicomico School System Building Needs; Public Input Welcome

The Wicomico County Board of Education accepted the Facilities Task Force Long-Range Planning Report in July after months of study by the task force team. The Board and school system staff are now taking public input and making presentations on the report, whose recommendations address school facilities plans for the next 50 years.

The report recommends the school system take a comprehensive, integrated approach to maintaining and improving its school facilities, including replacing some school buildings, changing some grade configurations, and relocating some programs to more effectively serve students. By carefully planning this integrated approach, the school system can save money, prevent crisis situations caused by failing facilities, and improve student services.

“In recent years, we have had to wait five years between major projects because we can only build or replace a school when we have state and county funding to do it. On that schedule, addressing the facility needs of our school system one building at a time won’t work,” said Dr. John Fredericksen, Superintendent of Schools. “This report provides a possible blueprint for meeting the many facility needs while making some program adjustments that would allow us to redirect our limited resources into the classroom. We anticipate changes to the overall plan as we move forward as specialized funding becomes available or as components fail prematurely. This plan helps us adjust the interrelated parts to minimize costs and maximize benefits.”

The Facilities Task Force Report is posted on the Board’s website at www.wcboe.org; click on the Facilities Task Force Report button on the home page. The report is lengthy, and includes many overarching recommendations, such as:
Reduce the overall number of school buildings so that there is less to maintain and manage in the future, and lower management overhead costs.
Build new schools with larger capacity to take advantage of economy of scale and maximize state participation (which currently stands at --% of eligible construction costs for Wicomico school projects).
Set maximum sizes for elementary (Prek-Grade 5) schools at 650, middle schools at 1,200, and high schools at 1,600.
Create a redistricting task force and work with a third-party consultant to evaluate existing redistricting guidelines and recommend revisions.

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