This cost difference places an inequitable burden on Montgomery County to meet the capacity needs of our school system. The IAC's regulations recognize the potential for this type of unusual situation by allowing for a regional cost differential in the formula. The IAC has not as yet provided this option. However, we would request the Board give serious consideration to the use of the cost differential option when determining the outcome of the appeal of our request. Although our Board of Education adopted a policy on modernizations in 1991 that identified a goal of modernizing school facilities on a thirty-year schedule, the current schedule does not meet that goal.
Some schools operate fifty or more years before being modernized.
Modernized schools are also critical components in revitalizing and stabilizing older, established neighborhoods, consistent with the Smart Growth policies initiated by the Governor and the General Assembly. The Board reiterated the importance of modernizations this fall when it approved a change to the IAC's regulations concerning the allowable size of modernizations. This change will allow the Board to increase the eligible square footage of a modernization project. By doing so, the State will more accurately fund the cost of the actual building as opposed to a building size determined by the standard size formula. We would request that the Board consider this newly approved regulation when deliberating on the eligibility of several projects in our request.