ANNAPOLIS — The forecast of snow couldn’t keep elected officials and community members from voicing their support for House Bill 0736 last week in the Maryland General Assembly during an Appropriations Committee hearing.
The legislation, sponsored by District 36 delegates Jeff Ghrist (R-Caroline), Steve Arentz (R-Queen Anne’s) and Jay Jacobs (R-Kent), would adjust the local cost-share levels between the state and county for new school construction.
Also known as the Kent County Middle School bill, a funding adjustment would only apply if a county’s median household income is in the bottom quarter of the state and the split for funding for new construction is currently at a 50-50 level, meaning half of the money comes from the state and the other half comes from the county.
According to the Maryland General Assembly website, HB0736 is currently in committee for review.
If the committee gives the bill a positive report, it will be moved onto a second reading.
During the Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 11, Del. Ghrist spoke about the unique economic challenges facing Kent County. As the smallest county in Maryland, Kent does not have the population numbers or tax base to support funding a new school building with the current formula, Ghrist said.
The lack of wealth and size of the current school-age population is giving Kent a “double whammy” when it comes to the economy of scale used in the current formula, he said.
“The way the formula was drafted it hurts Kent County more than it helps. All this bill does is when the time comes to build a new school it gives Kent County a higher amount of funding,” he said.
In her testimony, Superintendent of Kent County Public Schools Mary McComas said the condition of the current middle school building, which was constructed in 1949 and had its last full renovation in the 1970s, is impacting the quality of students’ education.
“KCMS students lost three days of school this year because of failing infrastructure,” she said. “We have spent $130,000 on emergency repairs in the last 19 months for leaking roofs, the HVAC system and a broken sewer system.”
“I know it’s tempting to say ‘Well, you can kick this project down the road,’ but the truth is it will only increase in costs the longer we wait,” McComas said.
“One way or another we’re going to be spending the money,” she said. “The question is do we do it reactively in emergency repairs or actually invest in a building for all of Kent County’s students?”
McComas acknowledged to the committee that on paper Kent County looks wealthy, “but if we cut the crust off, Kent County is impoverished beyond belief.”
There are only 1,742 students in KCPS, she said, and of that number 1,074 are economically disadvantaged.
“You don’t know it when you visit on a beautiful sunny day because those rolling green fields and beautiful Bay breezes are deceptive, but poverty is intense there in a way you would not believe if you did not live there,” McComas said.
She added, “Please, please, please lead beyond a math formula. Lead beyond party politics. Please see our 11-, 12-, 13-year-old children in Kent County as every bit as important and worth investing in as other kids in the state.”
Joining the hearing virtually was Matthew Swanson, whose four children attend KCPS schools. He spoke about some of the challenges his middle school-aged son faces in the current Kent County Middle School building.
“Sometimes the lights just don’t work, every other week the toilet floods, the pipes keep breaking and (students) have to leave the school, classroom floors are broken and students can’t use the room, desks are so old that they don’t attach properly to the chairs and if you lean in the wrong direction all your stuff falls out, the lockers get stuck, and the gym equipment is old,” Swanson said in his testimony.
“Middle school is already hard enough; the building is supposed to work. If you believe like I do that children are the future of our towns, our communities, our state, our country and our world, then invest in them,” he said.
Kent County High School junior Alden Swanson, the student member of the Kent County Board of Education and Matthew Swanson’s daughter, said that until she was visiting other schools around the state as part of high school band competitions, she did not know that school buildings were not supposed to be run-down.
“When I went to (KCMS) I thought the creaky ceilings, the mold infestation and leaky sinks were normal. I thought that not having any windows in any of my classrooms was normal. … Kent County may be small, but we deserve the same state-of-the-art facilities as everyone else in the state,” she said.
Dan Divilio, a KCPS employee and father of two, said families should not have to choose between paying for a private school education or leaving the community that they love to send their children to a well-equipped middle school.
Kent County “has three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. We don’t have the same options as families in other metropolitan areas of the state. We can’t opt for another public middle school nearby or enter a lottery for a coveted high-performing school in the same city or county. This is it for us,” Divilio said.
Kent County Commissioner Albert Nickerson and Board of Education member Laura McKenzie also traveled to Annapolis to testify in favor of the bill, while KCPS accountant Kreigh Kirby, David Lever, KCPS’ consultant for the project, and parent Krista Lamoreaux testified remotely.
The hearing can be found on the General Assembly website: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Committees/Media/false?cmte=app&clip=APP_2_11_2025_meeting_1&ys=2025rs. Fast forward to the 3:07:00 mark to hear testimony on House Bill 0736.
Trish McGee, owner and publisher of The Evening Enterprise, is president of the Kent County Board of Education. She did not contribute to this report.