In heated forum, Almond defends her stand on Dulaney High funding

In an often-contentious candidate forum Tuesday evening, Councilwoman Vicki Almond defended her decision to oppose planning money for a new Dulaney High School building, and her comments also called into question her support for Towson High’s planning money.

At the forum in Towson hosted by the Central Baltimore County Democratic Club, parents and Dulaney supporters pelted her with questions about why she and five other council members signed a letter Tuesday telling County Executive Kevin Kamenetz that they didn’t support his recent decision to add Dulaney planning money to his FY19 budget. Almond is one of three Democrats running to be the next county executive.

Almond noted that about a year ago, Kamenetz said there was not enough money to rebuild Dulaney High School and that it would get a renovation instead. Parents fought that plan because they felt a renovation would not fix all the issues with the school, including the enrollment spike that is projected. Kamenetz is now running for governor.

“Now the county executive has changed his mind and said he’s going to put planning money into his budget. Where is he going to be in 2019?” Almond asked, to which one audience member yelled “Out of a job!”

“He can promise — I’m sorry, all of this is not about ‘I don’t want a new school for Dulaney;’ it’s about the process. There wasn’t any. Do you know how I found out about Dulaney? The same way you did, in the papers and on TV,” Almond said. 

One Dulaney parent told Almond: “It’s your job to find funding.” 

Almond responded: “It is our job. There is no money there and the county executive knows there isn’t. How are we going to build that school? We have enough money, supposedly, from what we understand on the council, to build Towson, but we can’t build two schools. There just isn’t the money.”

The price tag for a new high school is about $100 million.

Almond was asked: “So you’re supporting the Towson rebuild but not Dulaney’s?”

“I’m not supporting either one of them because I think we need to take a step back — not that you don’t need it, I know you need it —  but we have to take a step back and figure out how we’re going to prioritize these schools.

“This is a mess, this is a terrible mess. I want us to put this all on the table and figure out how we’re going to get you your new school,” Almond said. “I’m sorry, but the present administration, they don’t have any idea how they’re going to pay for it. They’re going to put planning money in the budget for 2019 and then they’re going to walk away and say ‘Oh, well.’ … So let’s figure out how we’re going to do this. Can we get more bond money? Can we get more money from the state? Can we borrow more money? Let’s figure out what we can do to solve this problem.”

Two years ago, Kamenetz rebuffed pleas from parents and community advocates who were asking for replacement buildings, not renovations, for Dulaney and Lansdowne high schools.

“We can’t afford to do [new buildings for Dulaney and Lansdowne] and everything else,” Kamenetz said in an interview with the Sun in April 2016.

The other two Democrats in the county executive race — Sen. Jim Brochin and former state delegate John Olszewski Jr. — both support a new building for Dulaney.

In an interview, Brochin said he doesn’t agree with Kamenetz on many things, but in this case he feels funding Dulaney made sense. He pointed out that not only is Dulaney in horrible condition structurally, it is also expected to be overcapacity in the coming years, meaning a replacement school makes more economic sense. Dulaney has a capacity of 1,984 students and is expected, per BCPS projections, to have just under 2,200 students by 2026.

Brochin said he thinks that because the county usually runs a surplus of between $230 million and nearly $350 million, it would be possible to dip into that surplus for school construction, if needed. He also supports the $60 million renovation of Lansdowne High, which is not projected to have overcrowding issues through at least 2026.

“The best way to use the surplus is for one-time expenditures, and schools are one-time expenses, and I think we can do it for [Dulaney and Towson] and give Lansdowne what it needs, and at the end of day all three will look fantastic,” Brochin said. 

Olszewski supports new buildings for both Dulaney and Lansdowne.

“Every child in Baltimore County deserves a top-notch public education, which is why I support a new [Dulaney] High School and a new Lansdowne High School,” Olszewski said in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening. “As the only person running for Baltimore County Executive who taught in the Baltimore County Public Schools, I know firsthand how important school facilities are to creating a strong learning environment. We must be bold on public education and recognize that investing to increase capacity and to improve school conditions need to be one part of a complete educational solution.”

Brochin and Del. Susan Aumann and Del. Chris West — all of whom represent the 42nd District — sent a letter to the Baltimore County School Board in December urging its members to support a new school for Dulaney.

“According to BCPS’s own facility report,” the letter said, “Dulaney High School is the worst high school facility in Baltimore County without a funded solution and will experience significant overcrowding in the decades to come.” 

The delegates who represent the 11th District, which also includes a portion of Dulaney’s population, also sent a letter of support.

-Kris Henry,
The Towson Flyer