Prince George’s County to Open Six New Schools During 2023-2024 School Year
Dear Prince Georgians:
Today, I was excited to tour the new Drew-Freeman Middle School in Suitland with Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Superintendent Millard House II and members of his team. We are proud that this is one of six new schools that will open during the 2023-2024 school year through phase one of our Alternative Construction Finance (ACF) program, also known as the Blueprint Schools initiative. The ACF is an innovative public-private partnership being used to build new schools quickly in Prince George’s County.
This day has been a long time coming. We know that greatness grows in this County, and we have shown our support for our children in many ways. However, when it came to our school buildings, for too long our words didn’t lead to results. For years, our children have had to attend school in some of the oldest buildings in the State of Maryland.
When I took office as County Executive, our County had an $8.5 billion school construction backlog, with 40% of the school buildings being built 60 years ago. We recognized then that delivering on our commitment to our children was a must, even if it took innovative approaches to get there. That’s why in 2019, I joined former PGCPS CEO Dr. Monica Goldson and former County Council Chair Todd Turner in Annapolis to push for the ACF program. We partnered with the County Council and our State Delegation to support this plan and thanks to our collective efforts, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation that same year, followed by other pieces of the plan passing through the County Council and then the School Board.
Under the normal school construction process, it would take at least 12 years to build six new school buildings, but we knew that our children could not wait that long. In fact, I visited the old Drew-Freeman Middle School in 2020 to emphasize what the ACF plan would mean for our children. We stood in the cafeteria of a crumbling, deteriorating building, and the urgency of providing new school buildings for our children was made clear. We promised that we would push through and get this done for them. Today, I was extremely proud to stand in the cafeteria of the new Drew-Freeman Middle School and say that we have delivered six new schools this year, just as we promised we would.
PGCPS is the first kindergarten through 12th grade school system in the nation to utilize this innovative and collaborative approach to design, build, finance, and maintain a multi-school construction program in an effort to address its aging school infrastructure. The first phase of the ACF program included the design, construction, financing, and maintenance of five middle schools and one kindergarten through grade 8 school in the County. The six schools include: Drew-Freeman Middle School in Suitland; Hyattsville Middle School; Kenmoor Middle School in Landover; Sonia Sotomayor Middle School in Adelphi; Walker Mill Middle School in Capitol Heights; and Colin L. Powell Academy in Fort Washington. These six schools total 8,000 new seats for PGCPS students.
I’m also excited to say that we have broken ground on 10 new schools overall in the past three years, which is an amazing accomplishment. It is also unheard of to complete construction on six of those 10 school buildings in such a short time frame, which further proves that our ACF program is not only innovative, but also effective. We’re also proud that the ACF program works in a way that creates generational wealth in the process by supporting our local and minority-owned businesses and our local unions. The total funding for the first phase of the ACF program was $395.1 million, with a 30% minority business enterprise (MBE) participation requirement. Of the total funding, $128.3 million, or 32.5%, went to MBEs, exceeding the MBE requirement.
In addition, PGCPS was also able to incorporate labor union participation through multiple contracts as part of the ACF program. Two of the largest individual contracts were awarded to Mona Electric and W.G. Tomko, providing electrical and mechanical and plumbing services, respectively. These union contracts have provided numerous employment opportunities for local union workers within the County.
Under the ACF program, in addition to designing, building, and financing the new schools, the developer must also maintain them for 30 years. The service/maintenance period includes a 30% MBE requirement. The first phase of ACF program schools was supported by Prince George’s County Education and Community Partners (PGCECP), a consortium including Fengate Asset Management, Gilbane Development Company, Gilbane Building Company, Stantec, and Honeywell. PGCECP was awarded the school construction contract after a competitive procurement process through PGCPS.
The new Drew-Freeman Middle School and the other ACF program schools are equipped with features like science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) labs; smart boards in every classroom; state-of-the-art dance, choral, orchestra, drama, and band rooms; multipurpose fields, and much more. Each new school is also solar and electric vehicle (EV) charging ready, with solar installation anticipated by Fall 2024. In addition, Hyattsville Middle School is equipped with a black box theater to support its Creative and Performing Arts Program and Colin Powell Academy will also feature an elementary library, four pre-kindergarten classrooms, an auxiliary gym, and innovation lab.
Our children are finally receiving what we have promised them, and that is school buildings worthy of their dignity and conducive to learning. However, we know that there is still more to be done. We still have some of the oldest school buildings in the State and will continue to urgently address this issue. Through phase two of the ACF program, we plan to deliver eight new schools. Phase two is anticipated to cost approximately $700 million, with the State of Maryland already pledging financial support. This second round of schools will include a 35% MBE requirement as well as a 20% County-based business requirement.
We are excited to have six new schools opening for our PGCPS children and staff this year, and we look forward to welcoming all our children back into classrooms in just a few weeks. We will continue to work to build even more new schools in Prince George’s County, so every child can attend a school that will help them realize their full potential.
Yours in service,
Angela Alsobrooks
Prince George’s County Executive
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