The Maryland Interagency Committee on School Construction is giving Prince George's County until February to submit changes to its requests for state school construction funding after a letter from State Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach blasted the county for not prioritizing schools in disrepair in its funding request to the state.

In a Dec. 11 letter to State Superintendent of Education Nancy S. Grasmick and the Interagency on School Construction, Miller called on the agency to send back the county's requests and have the county make revisions. In his letter, Miller criticized the county school system's $137.5 million request for state funding for capital projects — and accused school board members of failing to prioritize schools in poor condition.

"State funds are too limited and our economic times are too desperate to subject the great needs and safety of our children to political pandering by local officials," Miller wrote.

Miller's letter centers on the 3D/I study, a study by Pasadena, Calif.-based Parsons Corp. of all public school facilities in Prince George's that are more than 15 years old. The study, which was presented to the board in June, ranked the school system's facilities and determined that eight rated "poor," and would cost nearly as much to repair as it would to replace the buildings.

The IAC responded Tuesday with a letter giving the county until Feb. 1 to submit changes to its CIP. However, the IAC is not requiring the changes.

"The deficiencies in schools identified in the Parsons 3D/I project raise serious concerns about the health and safety of their occupants," Grasmick and David Lever, executive director of Maryland Public School Construction Program, wrote. "For this reason, the IAC is inviting Prince George's County to supplement its CIP request with additional projects identified in the Parsons 3D/I report."

County school board chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs (At-Large), who was copied on the letter, could not be reached for comment by press time.

In the Parsons report, eight schools — Morningside Elementary, Avalon Elementary in Fort Washington, Henry G. Ferguson Elementary in Accokeek, Samuel Chase Elementary in Temple Hills, Clinton Grove Elementary, Tulip Grove Elementary in Bowie, Middleton Valley Elementary in Temple Hills — and the annex building at Suitland High were all listed as being in poor condition in the study.

But Miller's letter says, "seven of those schools are completely ignored in the County's request," noting that only funding for a new Clinton area elementary school is listed in the top 15 county priorities in its funding requests.

Among the items listed as priority items in the county's request to the state are planning funds for a new elementary school in Upper Marlboro, planning funds to replace Oxon Hill High School, planning funds for a new Fairmont Heights High School in Capitol Heights, a replacement of Greenbelt Middle School, and renovations and additions to Doswell E. Brooks Elementary School in Capitol Heights.

In an interview Friday, Miller said the issue was brought to his attention by parents and PTA members at Henry G. Ferguson Elementary in Accokeek, which is part of his district.

"They need to go back and make the plea on the basis of merit not on politics," Miller said.

When asked if the money would come through for those schools if they were placed on the priority list, Miller said they would if they were listed higher in the county's priorities.

Miller said in his letter that to go along with the request would be a "denial of the State Constitutional rights of the children in the schools identified as ‘poor.'"

Board members said Friday that those schools were in the school system's Capital Improvement Program, the annual long-range planning document that is used to make funding decisions for capital projects, and that they felt they needed to continue projects that were in the CIP before they were elected in 2006.

According to the approved school board CIP for fiscal 2010 through fiscal 2015, all of the projects are listed in the 3D/I study for partial or complete renovation "over a 10- to 20- year period, pending funding availability."

Through a spokesman, Grasmick declined to comment on the letter, pending the discussion of the letter by the interagency committee.

Board Chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs (At-Large) said while she respects Miller and wants to work with him, it was "disappointing" that he would send the letter.

Jacobs said the board was "being held accountable for conditions that existed before we got here."

Board members noted that the community would have been outraged if they had removed projects from the CIP that had been promised to them for years.

"The CIP doesn't occur in one year," Jacobs said.

Jacobs also noted that the CIP does not contain the signatures of the board members. The board submits a CIP to the County Council, who then approves it and forwards it to the state.

"Once it leaves us, it's subject to all kinds of changes," Jacobs said.

The County Council did make changes to the CIP this year, deleting about $49 million in requests before sending it to the state, but none of the changes involved schools that were listed in poor condition in the study.

Miller's letter also criticized the school board's June vote to spend $36 million over 10 years to consolidate school facilities into a new headquarters at the Washington Plaza facility in Upper Marlboro.

School board members say it will save the district more than $300,000 per year in costs associated with having multiple administrative facilities.

Board Vice Chairman Ron L. Watson (At-Large) defended the decision, saying that the board is responsible for finding cost savings when it is faced with dwindling financial resources.

"We will see in 2009 that cost savings at a critical time when resources are shrinking. From a business perspective, it makes sense," Watson said.

View Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller's letter on Prince George's County school construction funding.

E-mail Megan King at mking@gazette.net.