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Sunday, May 10, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: Wicomico County Board of Education Signs TWENTY Year Lease, Not Ten! More Than $5 Million Dollars

Central Offices, Annexes of Wicomico County Public Schools Moving

All of the services currently located in the Central Office complex of Wicomico County Public Schools – in the main building and the annexes – will be moving from Long Avenue to the Northgate Business Park in north Salisbury this summer.

This move will place nearly all Central Office service operations in one location, under one roof. This will allow for greater efficiency in services and operations, while resolving longstanding facility issues with the annex portable buildings in a cost-conscious manner.

The Board of Education this week approved a 20-year lease agreement for Building Three, Suite #100 at Northgate Business Park on Northgate Drive. There is enough space at the new location to house offices currently in the main building on Long Avenue as well as in Annexes 1, 2, 3 and 4, and to hold Board of Education meetings. Some 150 employees will be housed together at the new location. Planning for the move to the new location sometime this summer is underway.

The new Central Office location makes good fiscal and operational sense in three key areas:

  • Fiscal responsibility
  • Health and safety
  • Efficiency

“We are pleased on behalf of our students, families and staff to have this affordable opportunity to relocate into a new Central Office,” said Dr. John Fredericksen, Superintendent. “In addition to being the fiscally responsible option, the new location will be better for operational efficiency, and better for the health and safety of our staff and those we serve.”

  • Fiscal responsibility:

The new location comes at a much lower cost than other options that were looked at by the school system. For what the school system would have needed to spend on office renovations and annex replacements, the new facility can be leased for nearly a century.

As an example: A preliminary estimate of the cost to partially renovate Wicomico Middle into offices was $24 to $30 million in capital expenditure, not to mention the need to redistrict and consolidate. The conversion of other schools or buildings into office-type use would be similar in cost, requiring additional accommodations to address codes and ordinances. And, since such a project would not be a renovation of instructional space, there would be no matching state funds. That would mean 100% of the cost would have had to come from local bonds.

The lease on the new location is $8.45 per square foot for 30,000 square feet of finished, furnished office space. The annual lease cost for the Northgate location will be $253,500, with the monthly payments coming from the school system’s ongoing Operating Budget. No additional local funding is being sought for this. It is important to note that this relocation will have no impact whatsoever on the planned replacement of West Salisbury Elementary School, since school construction projects are funded through the Capital Budget.

This relocation will allow the Board to remove the Central Office Administration project from its Capital Plan. That project was slated to be addressed in needs in Fiscal Year 2020, at a cost of $6.5 million. This change to the Capital Plan is extremely beneficial for Wicomico County Public Schools since those dollars would have been in direct competition with other capital projects needed for schools.

  • Health and Safety:

The Board of Education put a high priority on vacating the aging annexes for health and safety reasons. The annexes are portable buildings located between the original Board of Education Building and Wicomico High School and house many key support offices. Perdue Farms Inc. generously donated these portables to the school system once it had finished its headquarters project more than two decades ago; the school system used the portables for the phased renovation of Wicomico High School and since then for instruction and offices. These “temporary” structures have long since outlived their useful life and require frequent, costly repairs. The condition of the structures has become a real concern for employee, student, and visitor health and safety.

“For several years the Board has expressed concern over the working environment of our employees in the Annex area of our present location. The cost of repair or replacement far exceeded the funds available to us,” said Board President Ron Willey. “This opportunity to lease property that will satisfy these issues as well as allow Central Office personnel to be housed in one safe and healthy location was the best solution we have found in our recent years of searching.”

For some time the school system looked for office space to address the problem of the annexes, but that search had not yielded anything of the right size and cost. A few months ago, the Knowland Group contacted the school system to see whether Wicomico Schools would like to have their office furniture since the company was no longer operating out of its Salisbury call center location at Northgate. When school officials went to see the furnishings that were being donated, they learned that the furniture was for the whole office area and was valued at nearly $400,000. They also learned that the office space was going to become available to rent as well since the company’s lease was ending. This provided the chance for the school system to move into a finished, furnished office space at a fraction of the cost of other relocation options.

From the beginning, the school system kept the local County government apprised of its tentative plans as it worked through the details of the plan.

  • Efficiency:

The school system is looking forward to improved efficiency and communication from having most of its Central Office departments all under one roof for ongoing collaboration and communication. Approximately 150 employees will now be located in the same building instead of spread across five different buildings.

Plans for the relocation are fluid as details are being worked out, but the current plans calls for the existing Central Office building on Long Avenue to house the growing Infants and Toddlers Program, which is now renting space on Northwood Drive. Relocating Infants and Toddlers from rented space in north Salisbury to owned space would save about $50,000 a year. The new location would be easily accessible to the families who use the Infants and Toddlers services. Over the next year, plans also call for the annexes to be decommissioned and removed from the site.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought it was East Salisbury that was to be renovated for offices, not Wicomico Middle.
Glad this was so transparent and so thoroughly presented to the community before the lease was signed. NOT

Anonymous said...

November was a key month.

Anonymous said...

They already own a building. Bennett middle would have been a better choice. What bs about better for the students. In my school there are roaches, mice and bats. There are wires hanging from the ceilings and mold under all the carpets. They could care less about the kids. their building was better than half the schools.

Anonymous said...

So, the annexes (portables) are unhealthy and 20+ years old. The WCBOE should stop using portables altogether. The priority should be to get the students out of them first. They are used throughout the county. "Temporary" is seemingly all too permanent.

Anonymous said...

I see a very busy Greene Turtle next fall. Easy to hide vehicles in the mall lot too. Think about all the new dining and delivery options.

Anonymous said...

The US District attorney in combination with the US States attorney ought to right now be preparing to file racketeering charges against the BOE officials.

This is outright fraud, and a misuse of public taxpayers funds. Some people really should be going to jail over this.

Anonymous said...

"As an example: A preliminary estimate of the cost to partially renovate Wicomico Middle into offices was $24 to $30 million in capital expenditure, not to mention the need to redistrict and consolidate."

Is this really a real number? This is very hard to believe in my book, and I'm a commercial and residential renovator.

I'm calling hogwash.

Anonymous said...

Regarding 7:40 Poster - I'm an attorney and believe me - there are a lot of attorneys that are eyeing this very situation right now. The BOE is using the lease arrangement to directly attach Wicomico's taxpayers in combination with the MOE. There are several RICO laws that the BOE could be found in violation of. The rest I will leave to the lawyers imagination. It is travesty for the BOE to be peddling on the taxpayers backs.

Anonymous said...

Why didn't the BOE consent to re purposing the BMS property. Why bulldoze a perfectly good building? I agree with some of the above posters - many should be going to jail over this. It warrants an investigation at the very least.

Anonymous said...

I'm an attorney too. Only difference is I'm obviously one that passed the bar in less that 5 tries. Go back to JimBobs Bait store n' Lawyerin' skool and actually read the RICO statute.

Anonymous said...

I believe there are going to be some lawsuits initiated over this backroom deal. This is a classic example of taxpayers money being squandered.

Anonymous said...

According to the just-released Facilities Report, wasn't Wi Middle to be a "swing school" to house populations in schools being renovated? Wasn't East Salisbury to be the location of WCBOE offices and the alternative school? I'm not sure why Wi Middle is being cited now in a discussion of central office location.

Anonymous said...

Nobody cared unless your a taxpayer even then 99% don't show up.

Anonymous said...

Oh please Governor Hogan, we desperately need help with our out of control Board of Education.

Anonymous said...

Let me see. What happened in November that might have spurred this?

Anonymous said...

Where in the new Facilities Report does it mention renting space we don't own? Who does own it?

Anonymous said...

Infants and Toddlers program needs space for dozens of offices, central office needs a quarter of a million dollars for its rent every year for two decades and Bennett Middle could not be salvaged to house anything related to the school system. "Cost-conscious" is a silly phrase to put in this press release.

Anonymous said...

To 8:33 Know-It-All

How about the Sherman Anti trust Act and/or Clayton Act for starters. When you read the opinions, this is one of Acts that was designed to handle conditions that presently exist in Wicomico County's BOE situation.

Anonymous said...

The Board of Educations' claim that it is not taxpayers money is horse malarky.

Here is their recently released info pack excerpt - (lie).

'The annual lease cost for the Northgate location will be $253,500, with the monthly payments coming from the school system’s ongoing Operating Budget. No additional local funding is being sought for this.'

Anonymous said...

If there is $253,000 in the Operating Budget, it was not put in there for rental of office space. Under what specific line item has this rent money been "found" in the operating budget? Expenses for utilities and everything else covered in that budget will still need to be paid in addition to the unanticipated rent. Wasn't a small fortune spent on bullet-proofing the doors to the WCBOE auditorium about a year ago? I'd hate to think Infants and Toddlers are that at risk.

Anonymous said...

Any mention of cost of proposed renovations or cost of moving?

Anonymous said...

This says the annual lease will be $253,500 annually? What happened to the $313,000 annual lease?

Anonymous said...

Poor Joe Hollowy!!! LMAO

Anonymous said...

Why does the Infants and Toddlers program (free babysitting)need dozens of offices?

Anonymous said...

Isn't it strange how people can spend other peoples money?
It's so easy to do this , it's not their money so they will spend , spend , spend.
The teachers need this like a another hole in their a$$.
It used to be "for the children"
now it's "for the teachers".
I put the BOE on the same level as ISIS.

Anonymous said...

And the bennet kids still don't get textbooks..sad wasteful idiots at the BOE( bend over everyone)

Anonymous said...

10 years ago nobody was complaining about money being spent. All time highs for real estate, new construction everywhere, plenty of jobs and banks giving money away.

Anonymous said...

What will they do with the old offices?

Anonymous said...

To 5:47AM Poster - I agree with your analogy also. I hope that someone in the bar association will step up to the plate and sue their a$$ off. It's as if we have ISIS living right among us.
Might as well have the BOE adopt Sharia law so that the kids can be indoctrinated.

Anonymous said...

What is the cost of renovating Long Avenue for Infants and Toddlers and the cost of renovating Northgate? What is the cost for moving all of the central office and annexes to Northgate? Mentioning just annual rent is not accidental. Since the lease is for 20 years, are we to assume the Facilities Report is already being ignored?

Anonymous said...

Thanks Willey, Fitzgerald, Elmore, Hudson, and the rest of the BOE for putting Dr. Freddy and his top heavy high paid administration first and once again leaving your students, teachers, and staff last. We employees are sick of you and especially Dr. Freddy for continuously fostering a second class education system. You all suck!

Anonymous said...

Where is the WCEA and the MSEA? You union asses have been silent all year and have just allowed the BOE to continue this crap without a word. You have proven yourselves pointless and I will be leaving your organization and will be saving $400 per year by joining the Eastern Shore Education Association where I don't have to deal with your politics!

Anonymous said...

Wicomico taxpayers just got it shoved right up the chazookas. And most everyone was not even made aware that it was happening.

Frederickson should be fired ASAP.

Anonymous said...

Now that you've all been told what's coming,just accept it.Judging from these comments it's no wonder the dark ages lasted so long.Change is not fun,and more times than often it's painful,but it is necessary to move forward.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Just like the states attorney building this is a home run for rinner.

Anonymous said...

It's just another day for the boe. Spend and spend some more. its ashame that all this money spent will do nothing to help the students. I so wish we had a local board that would hold them accountable. In the end we are still going to have half the county on welfare. It's also time to have a real conversation about the population we are serving and what's resonable for our demographic.

Anonymous said...

I agree that it's time to house everyone under one roof. Maybe there will be better accountability for all. Moving the Infants and Toddlers program is smart but they should be assigned to a school building where they are treated with respect and not belittled and harassed by their supervisor Patti Adkins. It has gone on for years. This now gives her more space to hide. Smart move!

Anonymous said...

I'm not a lawyer , however , the whole idea of renting space is just plain stupid. We have educated people making stupid decisions . I did read both comments who said they were lawyers , I expected nothing less , they contributed nothing and this is a good example of our liberal socialist society. Isn't that right Mike Richardson.

Anonymous said...

A public school system is supposed to be transparent. As always, the big question is, "Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?" At least an elected school board that does as it pleases can be replaced before members serve two terms.

Anonymous said...

To 9:06 Poster - That's just the point - Wicomico doesn't have an elected school board. And even in Jim Mathias's own home District - Worcester has an elected school board.

IMHO - Jim Mathias slit his own throat when he opposed and held up legislation for the Wicomico County elected school board. As for all of this racketeering rhetoric, well all I can say is that it is just that. It is a form of crime when the school board officials do an end run around what is suppose to be local control. Just goes to show you that our elected officials don't have any control - it truly is a Banana republic.

Anonymous said...

Call Larry Hogan's office and demand that the entire board be replaced. Joe can you publish the number again.

Anonymous said...

The State's Attorneys Bldg. wasn't a "home run" for Rinnier, 8:44, it was a home run for Gillis. $30 mil. when the fire house was sold for only $85,000. What a colossal boondoggle!

John Palmer, Delmar, Md. said...

The telephone number for the Governor's office is 410-974-3901. I've called and spoke with his representative for 15 minutes. He has the power to make some changes on the School Board right now. For some reason there appears to be a little delay. I think he will change that soon. John Palmer, Delmar, Md.

Anonymous said...

Way to go, John Palmer!

Anonymous said...

Where is the County Council and the County Executive? HIDING...

Anonymous said...

Neither can do a thing about this. The money is coming out of accounts that the Council has no authority over. They do not control capital improvement funds so nothing anyone can do.

Anonymous said...

Poor Joe Holloway

Anonymous said...

Arrogance at its finest, business as usual. November was a pivotal month.

Anonymous said...


Some related thoughts:

East Salisbury is an old building on a small footprint but is centrally located.

WiMiddle has received a lot of renovations in the past few years. New high performance windows, brickwork repointed, and IIRC A/C fixes. The plan to send its students to Pittsville has little merit.

As previously discussed, renovating BMS was the step any manager would take, unless they thought they could print money. BMS has athletic fields already; they just are between the school and Eastern Shore drive instead of between BMS and JMB. Scads of parking for staff and visitors; centrally located; lots of natural light, on site dining, gym for wellness, steps away from JMB auditorium, easy for the traveling admins to visit the schools they supervise. The list goes on and on. Oh, and rent-free!

The annexes were tired and a hodge-podge which is why determining to destroy a perfectly useful, paid for building is so wrong when staff could have shifted there so easily!

The new facility is undoubtedly a windowless cube farm and only the higher echelon will see daylight.

This lease issue should go to a ballot for an up or down by the public. There are many shortcomings in DE schools but at least the school districts have to face the voters on construction issues.

BOE-You got snookered and only the landlord is smiling.

Anonymous said...

RECALL

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
RECALL

May 9, 2015 at 8:53 PM

Recall who?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I agree that it's time to house everyone under one roof. Maybe there will be better accountability for all. Moving the Infants and Toddlers program is smart but they should be assigned to a school building where they are treated with respect and not belittled and harassed by their supervisor Patti Adkins. It has gone on for years. This now gives her more space to hide. Smart move!

May 9, 2015 at 8:55 AM

Hmmm! What BOE person or employee is this.

Anyone who thinks this move and how it was handled it is just pure idiots!!

Anonymous said...

$313000-$253000=food budget for year