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The Maryland House approved the Baltimore City Public Schools Construction and Revitalization Act of 2013 last week in a 107-30 vote. The bill, which would require the state to provide a block grant to the city’s school each year, is now heading to the Senate.

“We have seen progress in our schools. Increased enrollment, better teacher pay has attracted new and qualified teachers, charter schools are attracting more families to our neighborhoods,” said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in an appeal to the State Appropriations Committee. “But I continue to be embarrassed by the physical condition of some of our schools.”

Sponsored by the Baltimore City Delegation, the act would call for city schools to pay the state $20 million each year for the next 30 years.

Crumbling foundations, leaky roofs and unreliable heating and cooling systems are among the growing concerns at Baltimore schools, Rawlings-Blake said.

The city’s school buildings are the oldest in the state and although Baltimore public schools have seen extreme growth in terms of academic success, the environment in which students learn continue to take its toll on students, said Andres Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS).

“The buildings in which our students learn are an obstacle to their continued progress,” Alonso said. “We know from research from experience and from common sense that school buildings that are old and in poor condition have a detrimental effect on student achievement and teacher retention.”

The $20 million would be funded by the city’s general fund with additional revenue from the city’s bottle tax and taxes on casinos.

A previous plan to borrow $2.4 billion, renovate 136 school buildings and close 26 schools fell short in Annapolis last year, with concerns of growing debt in the schools and capital.

“We’ve worked really hard with the leadership in the House and the Senate, as well as with the governor to put before the legislature a proposal that can pass," Rawlings-Blake said.

Yasmene Mumby, co-chair of the Baltimore Education Coalition, began rallying two years ago to transform Baltimore schools. A former teacher, she recalls mice-infested classrooms unfit for academic growth.

“I taught in a school where the ceiling tiles would crumble where the pipes were so old they would burst bathroom water on the classroom floors,” Mumby said. “Because the walls were aging mice and rodents would find homes in between the walls of our classroom and then visit our classroom when they felt like it.”

With her familiarity with the crumbling infrastructure of Baltimore schools, Mumby said the teachers and 85,000 students of BCPS simply couldn’t wait any longer to incite change.

“As a teacher this affected me tremendously,” Mumby said. “You take my experience and you multiply that with other experiences with parents sending their children into these schools, students going into these schools and then leadership and staff having to work in these conditions and enough was enough.”

Several education reform and nonprofit organizations have praised the act that would bring $32 million to schools in its first year with continued growth subsequent.

“Our efforts to grow Baltimore by 10,000 families over the next 10 years really depends greatly upon the continued progress of our schools,” Rawlings-Blake said. “In order for Baltimore city to grow and do the right thing by our children, our school system had to get better.”

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For years, the district’s students have attended schools with poor conditions, lacking such basics as drinking water and sufficient wiring capable of supporting computers and air conditioning. In fact, almost 75 percent of the school buildings were built between 1946 and 1985, and 25 percent were built before World War II. Plus, the district only uses less than two-thirds of the space in the 183 buildings across 163 campuses.

With these factors in mind, the school board created a 10-year strategy that will affect all district buildings, hoping to link the district’s portfolio size with enrollment and place students in better learning environments. The plan includes renovating or replacing 136 school buildings, vacating 26 buildings, reducing the district’s portfolio from 163 to 137 school campuses and increasing the usage rate of the buildings from 65 percent to 77 percent.

“This is a historic moment in Baltimore — one around which we should all rally. Never before have we planned to make such a significant investment in the lives of Baltimore’s children,” said Bishop Douglas Miles, co-chair, Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) in a statement. “Two generations — 40 years — is a long time to wait. This is long overdue, and I am glad that all segments of the community agree that this represents an opportunity to provide the new and/or improved buildings needed to transform the education atmosphere for children.”

The development of the plan started in early 2011 when Baltimore City Public Schools contracted Jacobs Project Management to assess the conditions of the buildings within the district. The Jacobs report was released in spring 2012 and rated the district Facility Condition Index at 60 percent, which means it has a portfolio of “facilities in very poor condition” and the average educational adequacy score for the district was rated at 55 percent, aka a “failing grade,” according to the report. It also showed that Baltimore City Schools was only using 65 percent of its available space, particularly among middle and high schools.

The school board will vote on the plan in January. Once approved, it — along with the financing proposal — will go to Maryland’s General Assembly, in which lawmakers will vote during the 2013 session on if Baltimore City Public Schools will receive future capital funds as a block grant and get a new school construction authority to oversee the finances of the 10-year project.

If it is passed, the plan recommends four school program closures by the end of the 2012-2013 school year, allowing for the district to start reducing excess capacity. These schools programs are Baltimore Rising Star Academy, Garrison Middle School, Patapsco Elementary/Middle School and William C. March Middle School.

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