The Worcester County Commissioners have agreed to form a work group to determine how to best advance plans for a new Buckingham Elementary School.
Buckingham Elementary School students are pictured listen to their teacher in a classroom on the first day of the 2023-24 academic year.
Photo courtesy Worcester County Public Schools
By Charlene Sharpe, Associate Editor
The Worcester County Commissioners have agreed to form a work group to determine how best to move forward with plans for a new Buckingham Elementary School.
The commissioners voted unanimously May 7 to have a work group that will include three commissioners work with the school system to move the project forward. Plans for construction of a new Buckingham came to a halt when it was determined there was no state funding for the project as it stands now.
“I think we need to work with the board of education to figure out which options we’re going to move forward with,” Commissioner Chip Bertino said. “Buckingham needs to be rebuilt. A lot of people, including the commissioners, are anticipating getting that done sooner than later.”
In April, representatives of the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) outlined four possibilities for a new Buckingham Elementary School. The state has not provided funding for the standalone school Worcester County Public Schools shared plans for last year. Instead, IAC officials said the state would provide funding in four scenarios— combining Buckingham and Berlin Intermediate School, replacing both Buckingham and BIS back to back, moving sixth grade to Stephen Decatur Middle School and replacing Buckingham as a pre-k through fifth-grade school or moving sixth grade to the middle school and converting Buckingham, Showell and Ocean City elementary schools back into pre-k through fifth grade facilities. Those options could result in $30-$37 million in state funding.
Bertino said this week he felt the commissioners needed to work with the school system to figure out how to move forward now.
“I think we need to work with the board of education to determine which option presented to us, or maybe some other option, would be of interest,” Bertino said.
He suggested forming a work group to include three commissioners. The other commissioners agreed and decided the group would include Commissioner Ted Elder, Commissioner Eric Fiori and Commissioner Diana Purnell.
Worcester County Public Schools provided a statement when contacted after the meeting.
“The Board of Education is already in the process of creating a work group to advance the new Buckingham Elementary project, which is of course inclusive of the commissioner body,” the statement reads. “This is slated to be discussed at the upcoming board meeting on May 21. We look forward to the collaboration with county officials to move this important capital project forward for the Buckingham community.”