New HCPSS School To Be Built In Turf Valley Development

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The county has acquired land for a future elementary school to be located in the Turf Valley development, which is an unincorporated area of Ellicott City. Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said at a news conference Tuesday that the acquisition creates "sorely needed school capacity" in the county’s northern region for elementary schools where all six elementary schools have been above 100 percent of capacity utilization for six of the past eight years.

With this purchase, the county will invest $5.75 million to secure 10 acres of land for the construction of the county’s 44th elementary school. In May, the County Council approved Ball’s budget proposal to allocate the final $2 million needed to acquire the property.

“All our students and educators deserve the best teaching and learning environment to thrive, which is why school construction has been one of my top priorities,” Ball said. “The need for an elementary school in Turf Valley was identified in 2015, and the intent to purchase this land was announced in 2017. After years of delays, we will finally acquire this property and build on our substantial investment in critical school construction projects.”

In 2016, the Howard County Public School System requested that the county assess the viability of purchasing property at Turf Valley.

“At the state level, we proudly passed the largest single investment in school construction in Maryland history, providing $2 billion statewide and $132 million here at home in Howard County, because we understand that investing in proper facilities and preventing overcrowding will have real, positive impacts on what our students are able to achieve,” Sen. Katie Fry Hester said.

“The northern region is the most overcrowded in the county, so we desperately need this new elementary school,” David Yungmann, District 5 Councilmember, said.

“Thank you to the county government for negotiating the purchase of the site and continuing to be a valued partner as we support long-term student enrollment growth and the projected development across our county,” Michael J. Martirano, HCPSS Superintendent said. “This property, located in the heart of a community currently experiencing significant growth, will be added to our land bank, enabling us to build a new elementary school in the future that meets the needs of our students and families, including parking, playing fields and accommodations for community use.”