New Arnold Elementary Design Makes Headway in $192M Capital Budget

A design plan for the nearly 50-year-old Arnold Elementary School is scheduled to be paid for with funds in the recently adopted school system capital budget.

Parents at Arnold Elementary have long been chasing county and school officials for work at the school, which has seen flooding and damage over the years.

The Anne Arundel Board of Education approved Wednesday the fiscal year 2014-2015 capital budget—weighing in at $192.1 million.

The board unanimously approved the budget at its Wednesday session.

The budgeted amount is $55 million less than the spending plan approved for the current fiscal year by the Anne Arundel County Council in June.

Of the two school system budgets, the capital budget mostly consists of construction projects. The operating budget, which includes teacher salaries, will be unveiled in December by Anne Arundel County's Schools Superintendent Mamie Perkins.

More than 65 percent of the school system's capital budget request is composed of 13 school-specific projects. In priority order, they are:

1. Annapolis Elementary revitalization— $3.3 million
2. Lothian Elementary replacement— $7.8 million
3. Crofton Elementary revitalization— $3.5 million
4. Mills-Parole Elementary revitalization— $3.6 million
5. Rolling Knolls Elementary replacement— $18.1 million
6. Benfield Elementary revitalization— $14.5 million
7. West Annapolis Elementary modernization— $12.5 million
8. Severna Park High replacement— $50 million
9. Manor View Elementary feasibility study/design— $2.4 million
10. High Point Elementary feasibility study/design— $3.1 million
11. George Cromwell Elementary design— $2.1 million
12. Jessup Elementary design— $2.6 million
13. Arnold Elementary design— $2.6 million

The budget also includes $10 million to extend building full-day kindergarten and prekindergarten additions and $9 million for ongoing open-space classroom enclosures.

Now that the capital budget is adopted, the County Council must incorporate it into its overall budget in June.