Public hearing Monday night on potentially closing Hickory, Fountain Rock elementaries

Washington County Public Schools is hosting a public hearing Monday night at Williamsport High School about the potential closings of Fountain Rock and Hickory elementary schools.

The Board of Education is seeking public feedback about Superintendent David Sovine's recommendation to close the two elementary schools southwest of Hagerstown after the 2026-2027 school year and replace them with a new school to be built in front of the school system's headquarters along Downsville Pike.

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That new school could cost $45.3 million, although that rough estimate could go up or down by the time the school system finalizes the size of the proposed new school and learns how much the state will pay per square foot, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Proulx said Friday.

Based on that rough preliminary cost estimate, the state would pay about $28.4 million and the county government would pay about $16.9 million, according to the school system's proposed Educational Facilities Master Plan. The county's latest 10-year capital improvement plan calls for fully funding the new school, Proulx said.

The state typically covers 79% of eligible school construction costs, with local dollars paying 21%, Proulx said. There are some costs the county government would have to cover because the state won't, such as architectural and engineering work, furnishings and equipment.

The state has designated $19 million in Built to Learn Act funds for Washington County. Proulx said that money would go toward the state's share of costs for the new school and would accelerate funding for the project.

The school board is tentatively scheduled to vote on the proposal to close the Fountain Rock and Hickory schools during its 6 p.m. meeting on June 20, according to a school system release.

The public hearing about the proposed school closures is at 6 p.m. Monday at Williamsport High, 5 S. Clifton Drive.

People are encouraged to sign up ahead of time to speak, but are not required to sign up in advance to speak at the hearing, per the hearing notice. Those who want to sign up in advance are to do so by noon Monday and may contact board secretary Debra Cechovic at cechodeb@wcps.k12.md.us or 301-766-2971.

Written comments can be submitted for the official record by June 16 by emailing public_feedback@wcps.k12.md.us or mailing comments to Washington County Board of Education, 10435 Downsville Pike, Hagerstown, MD 21740.

Why close Hickory and Fountain Rock elementary schools?

Talking to the board on May 2, Sovine said it's clear the school system is facing "what's bound to become a facilities crisis" due to so many aging schools and limited resources for improvements, according to a YouTube video of the meeting.

In the proposed facilities plan, Hickory ranks dead last among the county's public schools with a facilities assessment score of 60. Fountain Rock Elementary has the fourth worst score, 64.

Scores of 60 to 69 are below average and anything below 60 is considered poor.

The other two schools with worst scores than Fountain Rock are Hancock Elementary (61) and Greenbrier Elementary (63).

But Fountain Rock's and Hickory's attendance zones abut, and both schools are within 2.7 miles of the site for the proposed new school on land the school system already has.

Fountain Rock's issues include using well water that, when the pump fails, requires students and staff to use bottled water, according to Proulx and school system documents. The school also uses a septic system.

The new school site would use public water and sewer.

Both Fountain Rock and Hickory scored 45, poor, for having open-school characteristics common among schools built in the 1970s. They also scored poor in several other areas, including interior conditions as well as facility spaces for classrooms, health services, media centers, art and music.

Replacing Fountain Rock and Hickory with a larger school has been talked about and included in future school construction plans for about five years, Proulx said at the May 2 meeting.

During that presentation, Facilities Planning and Development Director Rob Rollins showed a picture of a Hickory classroom with no natural light and said the stage at Fountain Rock is closed because that area is used for storage.

The proposed new school could have four classrooms each for kindergarten through fifth grade and three classrooms for prekindergarten, as well as one or two special education rooms, school system officials said.

It would accommodate 628 students.

Concerns noted by community members at an April 26 meeting at Springfield Middle include maintaining a community feel for students, families and staff; and safety because a large warehouse is being built across Downsville Pike from the site for the proposed school, according to the superintendent's report.

Proulx told board members in early May that school system officials are talking to county engineering about traffic control improvements that would "considerably slow" the speed of traffic in that area, according to the video.

The proposed school would go through a naming process, but is being referred to for now as Downsville Pike Elementary.

School system officials are preparing bid documents for architectural and engineering services in case the board approves the proposal to close the two older schools, Proulx said Friday.

The idea would be to go to bid on construction in the summer of 2025 so ground could be broken that fall, he said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: WCPS hosting hearing Monday about potential school closures