Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) is taking a major step forward in our work to address aging school buildings. The Prince George’s County Board of Education has approved the selection of Prince George’s County Education & Community Partners as the developer for our Alternative Construction Finance (ACF) plan. This investment will provide our students with a quality education within the walls of modernized and new state of the art facilities. 

Prince George’s County Education & Community Partners is a consortium of Fengate Asset Management and Gilbane Development Company as the developer; Gilbane Building Company as the design-build contractor; Stantec as the designer and architect; and Honeywell as the services provider. Here’s what this partnership means: We will build six new buildings by July 2023 for approximately 8,000 students attending Drew-Freeman, Hyattsville, Kenmoor and Walker Mill middle schools, as well as new buildings in the Adelphi and southern areas of the county. 

After speaking with nearly 19,000 families and community members during a telephone town hall about the need for a new approach to fund new schools. A student illustrated why this program matters so much. Oxon Hill High School senior Roland Polite described the stark differences between walking the halls of his aging middle school building years ago compared to his beautifully modern high school. He spoke poignantly about the conditions impacting students who attend the same schools their grandparents did. 

The Prince George’s County Board of Education is excited about the commitment from Prince George’s County Education & Community Partners to be a true partner in designing, building and maintaining world-class schools. We also offer special appreciation for the support from families, students, educators, our Board of Education, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, County Council, state legislative delegation and business community in doing what we must do for our students.

This is not the final step. Best of approaches will continue to leverage the — both traditional and innovative — to build the schools that our children deserve. 

(the contents of this post was pulled from an email sent out by Monica Goldson, Ed.D, Chief Executive Officer of Prince George’s County Public Schools).