BERLIN, Md. -- An agreement has been reached to move forward with the design plans for a brand-new Buckingham Elementary School. This time around, the project is fully funded, which is music to the ears of parents who feared this day would never come.
Last November, the Berlin community was marching down Main Street in protest after the state of Maryland pulled funding for the project. Less than a year later, that decision has been reversed. In fact, the state has allocated a historic amount of money to ensure kids at Buckingham will eventually have access to one of the best schools money can buy.
"We ended up with more than triple what we've normally gotten for capital construction of a new school," said Worcester County Commission President Chip Bertino.
Maryland is providing $28.5 million for construction costs. Worcester County is supplying the additional $47 million.
Hope has been restored for parents like Tom Simon, who have experienced a rollercoaster of emotions over the past year. In March of 2023, design work was initially approved for a new Buckingham Elementary. Just seven months later, the state pulled its funding.
"Absolutely there were dark days, but you know Berlin is a strong community," said Simon. "We are resilient, we work together and that's exactly what happened here, we all came together and fought for what our community deserves."
All of the hard fought work lead up to Tuesday's commissioner meeting, where commissioners unanimously approved a request from Worcester County Public Schools to move forward with design work.
Bertino said getting to this point was truly a group effort.
"It took a lot of local coordination among the county commissioners, the board of education, our state legislators as well as the IAC(Inter Agency Commission) at the state level," said Bertino. "This is the first time we've had that level of coordination and collaboration, especially locally."
The collaboration has resulted in not just a new Buckingham Elementary, but will eventually lead to a brand new, or at least renovated Berlin Intermediate School.
In total, Maryland has allocated $48.9 million for construction for BES and BIS. Again, $25.8 million is going to BES, $23.1 million is going to BIS. The county has allocated $57 million for the BIS project.
Simon said getting two new schools in the heart of Berlin is what makes this so special, and even though his kids might only experience both new schools for a brief time, he said this effort was for the community.
"It's not like a personal crusade, this isn't really about my kids, it's about Berlin," said Simon.
Construction of a new BES is scheduled to begin in May of 2027 and wrap up in the summer of 2029.
Work on a new BIS should begin in May of 2029 and be completed by the summer of 2031.
