Brian Shane

Staff Writer

Two long-awaited Worcester County school construction projects are officially moving forward after elected officials approved a funding plan that guarantees the county a record high $50 million in state aid.

On Oct. 15, the county’s Board of Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding between the commissioners, the school board, and the state’s Interagency Commission on School Construction. That state commission is the body providing the out-of-county funding.

The commissioners’ unanimous vote sets in motion plans for a brand-new Buckingham Elementary School to open in September 2030 and a renovated or replaced Berlin Intermediate School by 2031.

“I think that it’s time. The kids, the staff, the families deserve this new school,” said Christina Welch, principal of Buckingham.

A 37-year veteran of Worcester County schools, Welch was a member of the planning workgroup that included state and local officials, who negotiated all summer with state school construction officials on cost and square footage.

“We’re doing wonderful things for kids in a building that doesn’t hold enough capacity to do the things that are necessary in that space. So, we’re excited that the Commissioners approved that today, the recommendation of the workgroup,” she added.

Last month, the Board of Education approved that workgroup’s recommendation to proceed with design and construction of a new Buckingham, followed by a renovated or replaced Berlin Intermediate, according to Superintendent Lou Taylor.

One early option reviewed by the workgroup was to combine two schools into one new building, which the team concluded was impossible because the land available would not accommodate a 1,200-student facility.

School leadership next will begin design of the Buckingham replacement school within 60 days, pending approval of another agreement with Maryland Stadium Authority for design funds, according to Taylor.

The Stadium Authority is scheduled to approve funding for design at its Dec. 3 meeting. School officials will start schematic design in December. By April, they should have a schematic design with a floor plan, a front elevation, and a site plan, according to Joe Price, facilities planner for the school system.

School leaders detailed the project plans as follows: Buckingham’s construction budget will be $73.7 million. The state will provide $25.8 million and the local share will be $47.9 million. The building will not exceed 90,837 square feet with anticipated minimum total occupancy of 622 pre-K through Grade 4 students. The project would begin in May 2027.

For Berlin Intermediate, cost estimates hover around $80 million, though that figure is still preliminary. The state share will be roughly $23 million and the county’s cost at $57 million.

Price also said that an architect for Berlin Intermediate will be selected by February, followed by a feasibility study in May with the architect’s recommendation to renovate or build a replacement school.

Overall, the new Berlin Intermediate won’t exceed 94,220 square feet with an anticipated minimum occupancy of 628 students in Grades 5-6. The project will break ground in May 2029.

For both schools, the state-county funding agreement also dictates that each building will include up to 3,000 square feet of cooperative-use space with community organizations.

The superintendent noted that this agreement provides Worcester with a historic level of school construction funding from the state – $48.9 million in for both projects. The last time the state contributed to a school replacement, it gave $8.2 million, for the $33.5 million Showell Elementary, which opened in 2021.

At least eight of the county’s 14 schools “are of an age and physical condition that will require major capital investments in the coming ten to twenty years,” the agreement notes.

Buckingham is more than 50 years old and has outlived its usefulness, according to school board president Todd Ferrante.

“After a while, you can only do so much to repair the infrastructure,” he said. “When schools get to be that old, they usually rebuild them. The classrooms are smaller, there’s not adequate size. Certainly, the population has increased from when the school was built.”

Ferrante added that school leaders have serious safety concerns with Buckingham’s portable classrooms, which typically remain unlocked, with students back and forth from the main building all day.

Community members for years have been vocal supporters of a new Buckingham, noted Tom Simon, whose two young children attend the school. He was among many Berlin residents who joined a march through town in 2023 to advocate for the project and began a group called Worcester United.

“This is well overdue,” he said. “Buckingham is the largest Title 1 school in Worcester County, meaning that, you know, there is a large percentage of students that qualify for free and reduced meals. So, there is a high concentration of poverty.”

“Despite the building being old,” Simon added, “what makes Buckingham so magical is the people inside of it. The teachers and everybody that puts so much love and work into that place, they deserve the same quality building and chance for the kids they have at Showell and Ocean City Elementary and other places in the county.”