Dorothy Rowley and Luke Broadwater, The Examiner
2007-08-23 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Mayor Sheila Dixon announced Wednesday a 10-year, $250 million plan to build seven to 10 new Baltimore City schools — a proposal that her opponents called unrealistic.

“It’s either political posturing or it’s pipe dreaming,” said mayoral candidate and Clerk of the Baltimore City Circuit Court Frank M. Conaway Sr. “It just can’t be done.”

“I am glad to see the interim mayor has found money for our schools less than three weeks before election day,” said City Councilman Keiffer Mitchell Jr., an opponent of Dixon’s. “Where was the money when she wrote the city budget?”

Dixon, making the announcement at the renovated Highlandtown Elementary School, was joined by Baltimore City Public Schools System Chief Executive Officer Andres Alonso and BCPSS Board Chairman Brian Morris.

Dixon said the school system was long overdue for new construction.

However, in October 2005, citing excess capacity, the school board decided to reduce the square footage of the school system by 15 percent over three years to comply with a state mandate. In February, the board approved the closures of seven schools.

The last new school in the BCPSS system was built sometime in the 1970s, Dixon spokesman Anthony McCarthy said.

“The key to realizing this goal will be linking new school construction to our major city redevelopment projects,” Dixon said in a prepared statement.

“A key for funding this initiative will be tapping into many opportunities for creative financing and project delivery that now are available for constructing schools.”

Dixon also expressed hope the new schools would serve as community resources offering services such as after-school programs, recreation, employment development and cultural programs.

But another Dixon opponent criticized the mayor, saying she failed to secure school funds from the state legislature during the past session.

“It’s another example of Sheila Dixon leading from the rear instead of the front,” Del. Jill Carter said. “She failed to show up; she failed to do her job. And now the citizens of Baltimore are going to have to pay for it.”

drowley@baltimoreexaminer.com

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com