Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich addressed Montgomery County Public Schools’ estimated $3 billion maintenance backlog in his latest weekly update, attributing the growing need to years of prioritizing school capacity projects over renovations and upkeep.
Elrich said previous MCPS leaders did not request all the maintenance funding the district needed because they believed it would not be approved. He also said previous county councils did not raise bond capacity enough to keep pace with inflation and growing maintenance needs.
As Montgomery County’s student population grew, Elrich said MCPS and county leaders prioritized expanding capacity and constructing schools. “Expansion won, maintenance lost, and the needs piled up,” Elrich wrote…