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This story was updated on Dec. 12 at 2:52 p.m.

Parents at Henry G. Ferguson Elementary School are demanding to know why the school board isn't requesting funding in the next fiscal budget to make what parents say are critical repairs at the school, which ranked third in a list of Prince George's County schools recommended to be replaced.

After an independent study listed the Accokeek school among nine school system facilities deemed in poor condition and in need of replacement, parents were expecting earmarks for renovations at the school for the next fiscal budget in the Capital Improvement Plan.

But when the school board submitted the plan to the Maryland Department of Education during the week of Dec. 1, parents said they were shocked to see that no funds had been allocated for improvements at Henry G. Ferguson Elementary until 2011 at the earliest.

The school board paid for the study, which was released in May and conducted by Pasadena, Calif.-based Parsons 3D/International, an engineering and construction company, to assess the condition of 187 of the school system's more than 200 facilities, including schools and administrations building.

"It doesn't make sense. The top nine schools on [the 3D/I study] were put on a condemned list," said PTA president Ray Lacy of Accokeek. "You would expect that they would implement the 3D/I study into the CIP."

Parents contend that the school is in dire need of repairs to address issues including a leaking roof, sewage odor in hallways and rusty equipment in the bathrooms.

The school also lacks adequate heating and a playground area, according to a May walk-through report by Principal Monique Davis, Lacy, and representatives from the Board of Education.

"I feel it's deplorable," said parent Denise Foskey of Accokeek, whose son attends second grade at the school. "I think they're playing politics with these babies."

The school board has completed 19 out of the 22 repairs cited as being needed in the walk-through, including new playground equipment and replacing certain bathroom fixtures, according to John White, a spokesman for Prince George's County Public Schools.

Foskey said that while the quality of education is high, it could be better if the school was updated. Currently, repair costs for the school tip over $10 million, according to the 3D/I study, nearly as much as a new school would cost, about $12 million.

Foskey said the parents reached out to politicians, including school board members and County Councilwoman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Dist. 9), whose district includes Accokeek and who was elected council chairwoman on Dec. 2, but they were disappointed with the lack of urgency.

"The Board of Education has to be responsible," said David Billings, a spokesman for Bland. "We are urging that something be done with Ferguson right away."

Billings said that Bland's concern over the school reflects the sentiment of parents but said a decision regarding funding for Henry G. Ferguson would be ultimately decided by the school board.

Messages left for school board member R. Owen Johnson (Dist. 5) of Brandywine, whose district includes Henry G. Ferguson, were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Rupert McCave, CIP program officer for county schools, said the process of repairing or replacing schools is lengthy and must go through at least three approvals from the school board, County Council and the Maryland State Department of Education. He said projects such as $5 million renovations to Central High School in Capitol Heights and a new high school in Bowie had been planned years ago.

"Right now [Henry G. Ferguson Elementary] is envisioned for replacement," McCave said, adding that "it's not the only school in the county that's old."

Donna Hathaway Beck, the school board's at-large member, said she is advocating repairs be made to schools such as Henry G. Ferguson because of the lack of funds for construction of new schools. She said Bland and the County Council could have done more to ensure funding.

"I think there is a lot of finger pointing," she said.

Beck said she voted against putting Henry G. Ferguson and eight other schools into the CIP for reconstruction because she said they would be so low on the school board's general priority list that funding during the 2009-2015 fiscal budget is unlikely, and she suggested improvements be funded instead by the county.

"I don't think the state is at a financial standing to realistically replace these schools," she said.

Beck said that the County Council has the authority to decide what school projects are priorities. She points to Central High School, which sat at number 168 of the 3D/I study but is getting $5 million in allocated county funds for renovations that are scheduled to begin in 2009.

"[The council] earmarked $5 million in the county budget like you do pork barrel," she said. "Why didn't they give that $5 million to the school system?"

If the council wanted funding for these schools they would have conveyed that in the CIP, Beck said, adding that the school system spent $1.2 million on the 3D/I study and resulting outrage has not addressed the problems facing school facilities.

"The council giveth and the council taketh away," she said.

Lacy said funding discussions between the County Council and school board have done little to quell issues facing Henry G. Ferguson Elementary and other school facilities in need of repair and replacement.

"They're playing with tax payer dollars," he said.

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.