More News

The one-year delay in the opening of a new elementary school in Upper Marlboro was largely caused by school system planners' struggles to meet state-imposed environmental standards that were established last year, a school development officer said.

The Prince George's County Public Schools' Capital Improvement Program office submitted a final building permit for approval later than expected because designers had to incorporate changes in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, said CIP officer Rupert McCave.

"It changes over the year because everyone is still growing and learning the new requirements," McCave said. "You can talk to any school district in Maryland and they'll tell you it's a learning curve."

Construction of the 792-student Sub Region VI Elementary School was also delayed because the school system did not have enough money for the $25 million project until recently, McCave said. The building is scheduled to be finished by December, but it will not open until August 2010 because school officials do not want to transfer students in the middle of the academic year, schools spokesman John White said Tuesday.

"Economically, [the delay] concerns me," said Board of Education member Donna Hathaway Beck (At-large), who said she asked the school system's chief operating officer, Lawrence Fryer, about the delay at a CIP meeting early in April. "We're paying money now, but we're not going to be using the building until next year."

"It's just disappointing, and you remind them that this doesn't happen again," she added.

Board member Patricia J. Fletcher (Dist. 3), whose district includes the project, did not respond to a phone message and an e-mail requesting comment by press time.

There has been no formal decision on what students will be eligible to enroll in the new school, but White said it will probably operate like Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School, which is next door to the unfinished building. Wise was built to alleviate overcrowding by accepting students from schools across a large part of southern Prince George's.

Many of the schools in that area — including Upper Marlboro elementary schools Arrowhead, Marlton, Melwood and Patuxent —are operating above capacity, according to school system figures.

The school is on track to be certified LEED Silver, the third-highest possible rating, McCave said. The finished building will include a roof that reduces the need for air conditioning by reflecting heat, non-toxic paints and adhesives and waterless urinals and low-flow faucets. McCave said LEED requirements also impose restrictions on sites' locations, stormwater management, parking and more.

"It's a whole matrix [of requirements]," he said. "It's a lot of stuff."

Mark Sullivan, the LEED coordinator for Baltimore-based architectural firm TerraLogos: eco architecture, which specializes in green buildings, said it is unusual for the environmental requirements to delay a project.

"If you tackle [LEED requirements] early in the process, these things don't happen," said Sullivan, who noted that LEED lets builders choose from a list of green building methods without requiring that they all be used. "Meeting the baseline is generally not an issue."

Sullivan, who was not involved in the project, said he has advised school districts on the construction of LEED-certified schools in Prince George's, St. Mary's and Howard counties, all of which finished the projects on time.

Aletha Mills, the Parent Teachers Association president for Kettering Elementary in Upper Marlboro, said parents might be disappointed at not being able to send their children to the new school next year.

"A lot of parents are trying to get their children in charter schools now," she said. "[New schools] have the latest technology, they have new computers. You don't have to hold PTA bake sales."

But Mills' son has allergies, and she said she thinks the new school will be worth the wait if it means students can breathe clean air.

"Being able to be in classrooms that are energy-efficient, that are green [is important]," she said. "I just think it's worth waiting, because some children can't even go outside."