Nov 1

Nov 1 Our Children Deserve The Very Best

Raoul Dennis

Opinion

At-Large County Council Member Calvin Hawkins Discusses the Importance of P3 on Education in Prince George’s

By Calvin Hawkins

Over the last couple of weeks, you all have emailed, testified and posted about your support and concerns for the Public-Private Partnership (P3) that Prince George’s County has considered as an Alternative Construction Financing (ACF) plan. Through this partnership, the County will be able to construct new state of the art school buildings and facilities for our students. Currently, Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) has an $8.5M backlog on school construction projects making our schools the 2nd oldest in the State of Maryland with over 40% of our buildings being greater than 60 years old. This alternative approach to financing will bring about six new schools in four years as opposed to the 7-12 years typically required. PGCPS will be able to earmark 10% of the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budget while still completing the three schools undergoing traditional construction.

The County Council passed CR-100-2020 which supports the contract approval for the multi-year MOU which establishes the County’s and Prince George’s County Public Schools’ roles, right and responsibilities of the design, financing and maintenance of this P3 project. On October 21st, I stood with County Executive Alsobrooks, six of my Council colleagues and PGCPS CEO Dr. Monica Goldson in a press conference bringing updates and providing transparency to the general public and that evening after further discussion the Board of Education voted to support the ACF plan. This very important and measured effort did not happen overnight. Since 2016, the General Assembly studied possibilities to push for Maryland to rebuild and improve infrastructure to reflect the vision of providing 21st-century schools and a comprehensive report was produced. One of its major recommendations was to find alternative forms of financing to support the procurement process. In 2018, the General Assembly passed legislation to support the Public School Facility Construction Innovation Incentive Pilot Program which provided incentives to public school systems to pursue innovative construction projects. The County Council’s motion to support this MOU is not the final step but the next step towards supporting our students in pursuing academic excellence.

Although the extensive efforts in considering implementation for this plan occurred prior to my position on the Council, I am proud to support this ACF initiative. I believe our children deserve the very best and they should be able to witness action and progress from their village that is Prince George’s County and feel they are supported on their road towards educational achievement. These additions to our school system will support space for 8,000 students with a cost savings of $235M over the life of the 30-year agreement. This P3 will bring 3,000 additional jobs and $225M worth of competitive set-aside contracts for local, minority businesses. $91.9M of this budget is in service maintenance alone and I have spoken publicly and among my colleagues about my strong support for partnerships with our local trades’ unions throughout the duration of this historic project. I understand the sense of hesitancy about the transparency and cost-effectiveness associated with this major undertaking, however, if you take the time to review the MOU, you will see that measurable goals and milestones are incentivized along the way. You will also see the penalties that will ensue as a result of the timelines and minority business requirements not being met.