Baltimore County and BCPS Announce Community Engagement Effort for Capital Planning

Baltimore County and Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) today announced a robust community engagement effort as part of Phase 2 of the Multi-Year Improvement Plan for All Schools (MYIPAS), a long-range capital planning process to identify and prioritize needed improvements to Baltimore County’s school infrastructure.
 
As part of this new effort, additional online surveys and virtual community forums will be held to review the planning process and community members will have an opportunity to review proposed options and considerations and provide feedback.
 
In addition, throughout the winter and spring there will be structured virtual workshops with BCPS stakeholders, including educators, parents, students and community leaders.
 
“Baltimore County residents deserve an equitable, inclusive, collaborative, and future-focused process when it comes to prioritizing the needs of our public schools,” said County Executive Johnny Olszewski. "This effort will bring stakeholders together from across the county to embrace a vision and roadmap that will create lasting improvements for generations to come.”
 
“During these challenging times, BCPS remains focused on its students and their future,” said Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “This past year has reinforced that public education involves and affects everyone in a community. We look forward to hearing voices from across the county as we continue to plan infrastructure improvements.”
 
“I encourage all citizens of Baltimore County to take part in this community engagement period,” said Board Chair Makeda Scott. “The decisions being made in this capital improvement program will shape our schools and impact the lives of our students, their families, and our neighborhoods. We look forward to working with the community to do what is best for all students.”
 
The purpose of the MYIPAS is to develop a capital improvement program that maximizes state funding, defines facility priorities with community input; and assesses existing facilities based on three factors: enrollment projections, capacity and utilization; educational adequacy and equity; and facility condition.
 
The MYIPAS includes two phases; the first phase focused on interim recommendations for high school facilities that was presented to the Board of Education and Baltimore County Council in September 2020. Members of the public were given an opportunity to provide detailed feedback during the first phase through an online survey conducted over the summer. The survey received approximately 22,000 responses, representing all of the school communities in Baltimore County.
 
The second phase will focus on elementary and middle schools and other specialty schools/centers. Final recommendations are expected to be delivered in fall 2021.
 
The MYIPAS is being led by CannonDesign, a national architecture and planning firm that has led over 1,300 education facility projects across the country, including over 200 education master plans.
 
To learn more about the Multi-Year Improvement Plan for All Schools, including a schedule for the virtual community forums and other ways to stay engaged, please visit: baltimorecountymd.gov/myipas.