A recent change to the recommendation on the MCPS CIP that would delay the major capital project at Damascus High School by two years has led the Damascus community to call for a meeting that will take place at the high school on Tuesday, March 21 at 7pm.
The major capital project was previously approved to address various building systems and programmatic needs for Damascus High School, located at 25921 Ridge Road. The Board of Education, in the requested FY 2021–2026 CIP, included expenditures in FY 2022 to continue the planning and design of this major capital project with a completion date of August 2025, but the County Council delayed the expenditures by one year. An FY 2023 appropriation was approved to begin the design of this Major Capital project. A FY 2024 appropriation was recommended for construction funds, but that has now changed to “not recommended”, delaying the project for two years.
Per the flyer created for the community meeting, “Our Damascus HS major capital construction project is at risk to be pushed once again. MCPS listed DHS as a non recommended change to the CIP, which means there is a strong possibility of it being delayed again for two more years. A County Council vote is forthcoming. Our community’s advocacy to ensure the project stays on schedule is more important now than ever. We need participation from ALL schools in the cluster, as well as community members. Sadly, other clusters’ projects are continuously being prioritized over Damascus, despite the fact that we have the OLDEST high school in the county. Please help amplify our voice so County Council can no longer ignore the needs of Damascus!”
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