LEONARDTOWN - The St. Mary’s County Public School System has approval from the Board of County Commissioners for a 615 student school renovation in Leonardtown, while the Board of Education has approved third priority for what was presented as a 541 student renovation.

After a surprise report by St. Mary’s County Public Schools’ Capital Planning Coordinator Kim Howe and Chief Administrative Officer Brad Clements at its March 9 meeting, the St. Mary’s Board of Education voted to make the Leonardtown Elementary School renovation its third priority. Priority one is completing Margaret Brent Middle School and priority two is completing Carver Elementary School. As the third priority, Leonardtown replaced the “first new elementary school,” a project for which the County has yet to find a reasonable site.

In an interview, Howe described their meeting with the State. She said the school system had been told there should be money for renovation of Leonardtown if the school system were to raise its priority for the project and carry out what Clements called a “full renovation.” Howe also said that if the school system does not receive funding for a new elementary school this year, it could be because Charles County is seeking $500,000,000 in new construction funding. The state has many needs, she said.

At the Board of Education meeting, Clements noted that the full renovation would add $2.6 million cost as opposed to the lesser renovation currently budgeted, but would also result in 123 new seats for Leonardtown, thereby relieving some of the overcrowding in the Leonardtown district.

Clements also mentioned that the Town of Leonardtown is negotiating for a site as part of a new development, and those negotiations are nearly complete. This site could result in a new school for the Leonardtown district.

Board President Cathy Allen listened for a while, then called for a 10 minute break. She later said the information was new and she wanted to be certain she was hearing what she thought she was hearing.

When the meeting resumed, Clements proceeded to describe a process by which he could rearrange the budget so that minimal additional funds would be required.

Six days later at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on March 15, St. Mary’s Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Lorraine Fulton and Chief Administrative Officer Brad Clements presented the renovated Leonardtown Elementary School as having 615 students instead of the 541 students presented when the Board of Education voted to make the project its third priority and received approval.

Elementary schools in St. Mary’s County have been built to have a capacity of 535 for at least the last 8 years, and the proposed capacity for Leonardtown represents a change in policy which has been presented to the Board of Education, but not voted on.

The Board of Education has an emergency meeting scheduled for March 23, 2005 with one half hour of executive session for property acquisition reasons beginning at 8:30 AM, followed by an open session at 9:00 AM to discuss ,”.Modifications to the FY 2006 – FY 2011 Capital Improvements Program – Mr. Brad Clements/Ms. Kimberly Howe” for 30 minutes. There is no time for public comment shown on the agenda for the March 23 meeting.