CHESTERTOWN — Last year, the Kent County Board of Education agreed to construct a new state-of-the art building to replace the aging Kent County Middle School at 402 E. Campus Ave.
Built in 1945, some of the reasons cited is it’s an outdated building with a leaky roof, little ventilation, rooms without windows and even asbestos tiles.
The board voted Oct. 9 to build on the Chestertown campus of the current Kent County Middle School, the culmination of a multi-year planning and study process.
They met with approval by the county and the state.
Chestertown was thrilled to have it remain in their jurisdiction despite earlier discussions to perhaps build it at Worton where the Kent County High School is located.
Plans were set. The projected 24-month construction — 18 months to occupancy — project was estimated to cost $55.8 million, of which Kent County Public Schools asked the state to fund the majority.
However, it is highly unlikely to get enough funding from the county to complete.
As it stands now, the state would split the cost with the county, 50 percent, leaving Kent County, a population of just 22,000 to cover about $45 million to build the new school.
That is about 75 percent of Kent County’s entire yearly budget.
The project won’t happen without an increase in support from the state, according to some experts.
In light of this, a petition from Kent County Public Schools Support Our Schools Initiative is circulating in the county to support House Bill 0365/SB0110 — sponsored by Dels. Jay Jacobs, Jefferson Ghrist and Steven Arentz, and Sen. Stephen Hershey.
This bill requests that an adjustment be made for the local cost-share for school construction projections under certain circumstances.
The “certain circumstances” are that Kent County has 86% of students qualifying for community eligibility provision, meaning lower income students.
The petition letter stated that Kent County Middle School serves all of Kent County with a high population of students who qualify for free or reduced price meals.
The petition goes on to express that for other counties in the past, the state granted counties in similar situations a much higher percentage of costs.
For example:
Caroline County, with 85% low-income students, had 94% of costs covered by the state.Wicomico County, with 77% low-income students, had 98% of costs covered by the state.Washington County, with 75% low-income students, had 78% covered by the state.The Kent County organization expressed their students are in an outdated learning atmosphere that was constructed at the end of World War II.
The letter will be sent to committee members and is addressed to Chairman Ben Barnes, Chairman Guy Guzzone, and members of the Appropriations and Budget and Taxation Committees.
The petition urges the community to sign, expressing unless they get an overwhelming majority of signatures, state legislators won’t pass it.
The petition calls residents to action: “Please advocate for our often overlooked and undervalued students by voting favorably on HB0365/SB0110 to give them the best environment for success.”
To support the bill, find it here: kcpssos.com/hb0365/
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