Jaime Malarkey and Dorothy Rowley, The Examiner
2008-07-04 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Baltimore County lawmakers and parents are questioning $12 million earmarked for repaving school parking lots and tennis courts, saying greater needs should be funded first.

Members of the County Council are scheduled to vote Monday on transferring funds originally budgeted for an addition at Loch Raven High School, available now after the school board rejected the plans. But some parents said they haven’t had an opportunity to comment first, and that the money should be spent on projects to ease overcrowding in northeast-area high schools.

“There are some really bad tennis courts and parking lots, but in the long term we have to buy land for high schools,” said David Marks, president of the Perry Hall Improvement Association. “They are rushing to get these projects approved, and there’s been no input.”

County Executive Jim Smith announced plans to fund a long list of projects — mostly repaving parking lots, but also track replacements and new entrances — shortly after the Board of Education voted to scrap the 400-seat addition at Loch Raven last month.

School administrators submitted the 42-item list as part of its capital budget request earlier this year, but none was included in Smith’s original 2009 spending plan, county spokesman Don Mohler said. Smith did not modify the list, he added.

At a council work session Tuesday, school system budget director George Sarris said the projects were worthwhile.

“Every day, parents are picking up and dropping off students and maneuvering between buses and car traffic,” Sarris said. “Interestingly, aside from air conditioning, these are the types of projects parents most comment on.”

Parents of students at Ridgely Middle School said students suffered through their last days of classes this semester with no air conditioning. About half of the county’s schools lack air conditioning, and new windows in some schools only open a few inches from the top, said Donna Spicer, president of the Loch Raven Community Council.

Tuesday, Councilman John Olszewski said the furnace at Dundalk Middle School was broken.

“It’s in such bad shape, they’re afraid someone’s going to get hurt,” he said.

The council will vote at 6 p.m. in council chambers.

jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com