A report put out by Maryland State Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman, entitled “State Spending Series: School Construction,” has found that the majority of schools in Maryland are in need of building repairs and new infrastructure. None of the state’s school districts scored “satisfactory” or above as a collective.
Of the nearly 1,400 schools surveyed, only 20% are in “like new,” “good” or “satisfactory” condition. 34% qualified as “needing repairs,” and the remaining 46% are considered “functions unreliable,” in that their level of damage or degradation renders them unable to perform necessary functions as a school.
The counties with the lowest average scores are Kent, Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Cecil Counties, though Baltimore City also ranked low because many of its schools’ needs are not being properly met. Between 2012 and 2022, only 10% of the city’s capital budget was used for school repairs. This has left Baltimore’s school district with a backlog of over 11,000 requests to repair school infrastructure.
The Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) assesses approximately one-fourth of Maryland schools each year, with the goal of every school eventually being rated “satisfactory” or above. The organization is currently working to determine how much that would cost to achieve, but similar efforts from the Kopp commission in 2004 found that the cost would be $4 billion—worth $12 billion in 2025.
Many of these issues arise from the age of most of Maryland’s school buildings. Many of them are very old and have not been updated due to a lack of funding. The cost of construction in schools has also risen significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic due to factors including supply chain issues, labor shortages and tariffs.
Attending schools with outdated or nonfunctional infrastructure can have a negative effect on students. The comptroller’s report cites reports from Harvard and Johns Hopkins finding that the state of school buildings can affect students’ grades, attendance and even health.
This can also cause inequity in education, as students attending schools in the bottom five counties and Baltimore City may struggle to succeed more than students in wealthier areas. Frederick, Montgomery and Anne Arundel Counties are able to fund their own school infrastructure projects up-front, giving them an advantage that other students may not have.
The report concludes by urging the state and Local Education Agencies (LEA) to invest more in infrastructure repairs, quoting the Kopp Commission’s assessment that “Good schools must be a top priority for Maryland.”
