5 Harford School Projects Poised to Receive State Construction Funding

Harford County Public Schools announced this week that their requests to replace Youth's Benefit Elementary School and to improve the heating and cooling systems at three schools in greater Bel Air have received preliminary approval from state officials.

The Interagency on School Construction, which administers the state's budget for school construction projects, recommended approval for phase one construction funding for the Youth's Benefit Elementary School replacement as well as HVAC improvements at Darlington Elementary, Dublin Elementary and Fallston High School. The state also recommended approval for funds to plan the new combined Havre de Grace middle/high school.

In Fallston, advocates for replacing Youth's Benefit have been speaking up for several years.

A study evaluating options for the project was presented to the school board in 2007.

Community members testified before the Board of Education in 2012 that their school was the largest elementary school in Harford County and yet it presented poor sanitary conditions like water fountains boarded up due to lead contamination, overcrowded classrooms, limited technology and leaking roofs.

The state has recommended funding for Youth's Benefit to begin initial construction of the new school building, which will be 96,616 square feet including cooperative space and will accommodate 967 students, according to Interagency on School Construction documentation.

Current school capacity is 890 and enrollment is 1,041, according to Harford County Public Schools.

In all, Harford County is poised to receive $12,986,000 in state funding for these projects, according to a statement from Harford County Public Schools.

"I am grateful to the [Interagency on School Construction] for recognizing that these projects are integral to advancing individual student achievement and the critical role our community plays in educating our children," Superintendent Barbara Canavan said.

The state's Board of Public Works must sign off on the interagency's recommendations, which will happen in the spring.