Prince George's County Councilman Thomas Dernoga (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel earmarked $1.5 million in the county's fiscal 2005 budget to replace the deteriorating roof, a project that will cost about to $3 million to complete, he said. This week, Dernoga's office announced that the county's proposed supplemental budget, additional funds allocated at the end of the fiscal year, includes more than $1.6 million targeted for High Point's roof.

But John White, a spokesman for the school system, said High Point is not likely to get a new roof this year.

"Should you be able to arbitrarily pull out certain schools in advance of others?" he questioned. "How do you equitably address all the roofs on that list? They are all in need of repairs."

White said the county conducted a professional review of its buildings and determined, based on need, the sites with the "the most urgent needs." High Point is number 30 on that priority list, he said.

The roof over the 2,157-student school dumps water into classrooms, damaging ceiling and floor tiles, walls and textbooks, Principal Scott Smith told the Gazette in February.

"There are a variety of leaks around building in several different areas," he said at that time. "Any time snow melts it leaks. We get pails out and mop up areas here and there."

Smith did not return calls for this story.

Obtaining a new roof for High Point has been a major priority for Dernoga, who lobbied the school system to forego an addition to the 50-year-old building earlier this year.

Dernoga has supported building a new county high school in the area instead.

In March, school officials announced that they are considering three sites in Adelphi and one in Riverdale Park to build a new high school. The new north county high school will relieve an expected high school-age population boom in the High Point area.

Although Dernoga has earmarked money in the county's budget, he can not guarantee that the work will be completed, said Mary Lehman, an aide to Dernoga.

"There's nothing to force them [school officials] to spend the money," she said. "They can just set it aside. They can't spend it on another school's roof and there's no way to compel them to repair the roof."

White said the County Council could "recommend" how the school system spends money but can not direct work. He said it was "premature" to discuss money in the supplemental budget because it "hasn't been approved, and we haven't received it," he said.

The council is expected to vote on the supplemental budget later this month.

E-mail Meghan Mullan at mmullan@gazette.net.