With a penalty of $4.8M, P.G. schools end HQ lease

UPPER MARLBORO — Responding to a General Assembly bill that would take millions of dollars from the school system, the Prince George’s County Board of Education voted Monday to terminate a lease for new headquarters.

But the move will result in a penalty of $4.8 million. That brings the school system’s total cost for the project in rent and other expenses to $11 million.

The vote to terminate the deal was 5-2. The move into a new headquarters will be canceled, and the old headquarters will continue to operate.

Board members expressed their unhappiness during the debate.

"So it’s a total of $11 million, that if the board votes on this, we have nothing to show for?" asked board member Pat Fletcher.

"This is nothing more than blackmail," said board member Rosalind Johnson. She and Fletcher voted against the lease termination.

Board Chairman Verjeana Jacobs abstained; board member R. Owen Johnson Jr. was absent.

Board Vice Chairman Ron Watson was one of five who voted to terminate the lease, saying his goal was to cut losses.

"At this point, it’s all about minimizing further exposure to the county," Watson said. "I still think the legislature has overstepped."

The proposal was to move into an office complex in Upper Marlboro along the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor, near Andrews Air Force Base. It came under criticism from state lawmakers and county residents soon after the sharply divided school board approved a $36 million lease-purchase deal for the buildings in June.

The buildings were supposed to have consolidated scattered school offices into a central location, saving the system money over the long term. The project also was intended to replace the aging, decrepit Sasscer Administration Building in Upper Marlboro with attractive buildings for the 128,000-student school system that is Maryland’s second-largest.

But the complex has been nearly vacant for the better part of a year, and the school system paid $262,500 a month in rent. The initial $36 million price tag, spread over 10 years, also did not include millions of dollars in moving and renovation expenses.

State legislators said spending on the buildings could not be justified in the current economy, when the school system was closing eight schools and eliminating 900 jobs. The General Assembly moved ahead with a bill that essentially orders the school system to cancel the headquarters plan, or lose $36 million in education aid.

The bill passed in April.

Jacobs and Watson signed the agreement right after the meeting. The agreement had already been signed by the building’s owner.

Asked about the $11 million cost to the school system, Jacobs said: "It’s bothersome. It’s very bothersome."