AACPS Secures State Funding for SoCo Schools

After Gov. Martin O’Malley announced plans Monday to spend $336 million on school construction projects throughout the state, an Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) official expressed optimism about receiving necessary funding to finance local facility improvements.

For the 2014 fiscal year starting in July of this year, AACPS asked the state to finance certain school construction projects—including the replacement of Lothian elementary. Superintendent Kevin Maxwell’s proposed $239 million capital budget for fiscal year 2014 asks the state to provide about $47.2 for facility upgrades.

As of December, the school system had tentatively secured about $18 million of the requested $47.2 million, said the school styem's chief operating officer Alex Szachnowicz. Locally, that money will go toward updating the electrical systems at Deale Elementary and totally replacing the building for Lothian Elementary. However, AACPS is still seeking $4.5 million from the state for more construction at Lothian.

According to a document faxed from the Maryland State Board of Education to AACPS, more than $2 million has been set aside by the state for local construction projects at the two local schools:

• Deale Elementary electrical system replacement - $58,000
• Lothian Elementary replacement - $1.98 million

To find out where the rest of the $18 million is going, head over to Anne Arundel Patch for the full story.