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    Comptroller Franchot Letter

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    AJ Metcalf
    Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of Maryland, wrote a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House requesting a joint legislative hearing on installing portable air conditioning in schools in Baltimore City and County. He notes that thousands of students, teachers, and staff suffer without air conditioning for weeks each year in temperatures over 90 degrees. While portable ACs have helped other districts, the Interagency Committee for Public School Construction recently postponed a vote to allow state funding for them. Franchot believes a hearing would help lawmakers understand the issue from those affected.

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    Comptroller Franchot Letter

    Uploaded by

    AJ Metcalf
    2K views4 pages
    Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of Maryland, wrote a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House requesting a joint legislative hearing on installing portable air conditioning in schools in Baltimore City and County. He notes that thousands of students, teachers, and staff suffer without air conditioning for weeks each year in temperatures over 90 degrees. While portable ACs have helped other districts, the Interagency Committee for Public School Construction recently postponed a vote to allow state funding for them. Franchot believes a hearing would help lawmakers understand the issue from those affected.

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    Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of Maryland, wrote a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House requesting a joint legislative hearing on installing portable air conditioning in schools in Baltimore City and County. He notes that thousands of students, teachers, and staff suffer without air conditioning for weeks each year in temperatures over 90 degrees. While portable ACs have helped other districts, the Interagency Committee for Public School Construction recently postponed a vote to allow state funding for them. Franchot believes a hearing would help lawmakers understand the issue from those affected.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    2K views4 pages

    Comptroller Franchot Letter

    Uploaded by

    AJ Metcalf
    Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of Maryland, wrote a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House requesting a joint legislative hearing on installing portable air conditioning in schools in Baltimore City and County. He notes that thousands of students, teachers, and staff suffer without air conditioning for weeks each year in temperatures over 90 degrees. While portable ACs have helped other districts, the Interagency Committee for Public School Construction recently postponed a vote to allow state funding for them. Franchot believes a hearing would help lawmakers understand the issue from those affected.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 4

    Peter Franchot

    Comptroller

    December 11, 2015


    The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller
    President of the Senate
    State House, H-107
    Annapolis, MD 21401-1991
    The Honorable Michael E. Busch
    Speaker of the House
    State House, H-101
    Annapolis, MD 21401-1991
    Dear President Miller and Speaker Busch:
    For several weeks of every school year, tens of thousands of Marylanders suffer in public
    school classrooms throughout Baltimore City and Baltimore County without air
    conditioning. Through my work on the Board of Public Works, which reviews and
    ultimately approves Marylands annual Public School Construction Program, I am aware
    of far too many instances where children, teachers and employees have become nauseous
    and sick, and have even fainted as a result of classroom temperatures that often exceed 90
    and even 100 degrees. Having visited so many of these schools during my tenure in office,
    I can assure both of you that such unsafe and unhealthy conditions make it far more
    difficult, if not impossible, to establish an environment that is conducive to effective
    teaching and learning.
    In a spirit of concern over the magnitude of this public health and safety issue, yet also
    mindful of the considerable costs associated with the installation of central air
    conditioning, I have strongly advocated the use of portable air conditioning systems as a
    way to offer temporary climate relief while these school systems request and receive the
    necessary funding support to install central air. This approach has been adopted by other
    Maryland school systems facing similar challenges perhaps most notably, by Anne
    Arundel County, under the leadership of its Chief Operating Officer, Alex Szachnowicz
    and their experience has shown that, when properly installed and secured, these portable
    units are highly affordable, reliable and durable.
    In spite of these highly positive outcomes, and in the face of growing public outcry from
    both teachers and families who are understandably concerned about the health and safety
    of their children, this approach continues to be emphatically rejected by many within our
    states political and education establishments. The challenge of providing long-overdue

    80 Calvert Street  P.O. Box 466 Annapolis, Maryland 21404-0466 410-260-7801 1-800-552-3941 (MD)
    Fax: 410-974-3808 Maryland Relay 711 TTY 410-260-7157 pfranchot@comp.state.md.us

    Letter to The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller


    Letter to The Honorable Michael E. Busch
    December 11, 2015
    Page Two
    heat relief in these classrooms is compounded by the fact that, under current policies
    adopted by the Interagency Committee for Public School Construction (IAC), state capital
    dollars may not be used for the purchase and installation of portable air conditioning
    systems.
    Fortunately for all concerned, I am pleased to report that meaningful progress is being
    made on this front. Reflective of the personal interest that Governor Hogan has taken in
    this matter, his appointees to the IAC DGS Secretary Gail Bassette and Planning
    Secretary David Craig strongly favor amending IAC policy to allow state funding to be
    used for the installation of portable units, subject to the prerogatives of local jurisdictions.
    Furthermore, the expert testimony of Mr. Szachnowicz at the December 2 meeting of the
    Board of Public Works effectively dismissed any lingering concerns that have been
    expressed over noise, air quality and durability. Finally, a study that was conducted by
    DGS confirmed that the total costs associated with installing a portable air conditioning
    system -- from the purchase and installation of the units to the necessary electrical
    upgrades -- are less than $10,000 per classroom.
    After exhaustive discussion of this matter at its November meeting, and with this useful
    information in hand, the IAC which in addition to Secretaries Bassette and Craig, also
    includes former Delegate John Bohanan (appointed by the House), former Delegate Tim
    Maloney (appointed by the Senate) and Interim School Superintendent Jack Smith was
    poised to vote in support of this important policy change at its December 3 meeting.
    However, instead of casting an affirmative vote that would remove a critical barrier to
    classroom relief, the IAC voted, 3-2, to defer the vote. According to subsequent
    correspondence from IAC Executive Director David Lever, Mr. Timothy Maloney,
    representing the Senate, proposed deferral of the motion pending further consultation
    between the members of the Board of Public Works and the leadership of the General
    Assembly.
    The notion that the leadership of the General Assembly would force a postponement of
    this vote, for the reason stated in Dr. Levers letter, was surprising to me and many other
    stakeholders, to put it mildly, given the following facts:

    Letter to The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller


    Letter to The Honorable Michael E. Busch
    December 11, 2015
    Page Three

    The notion of installing portable air conditioning systems in public school


    classrooms has been discussed exhaustively in numerous public forums, including
    the November meeting of the IAC and, as mentioned earlier, the December 2
    meeting of the Board of Public Works;

    Members of the Baltimore County delegation took time to attend town hall
    meetings earlier this fall in Arbutus and Dundalk, which I hosted in order to
    educate the public of the health and safety threats posed by sweltering classrooms;

    As stated earlier, the House and Senate each have appointed representatives on the
    IAC, either or both of whom are presumably there to provide information and
    answer any questions that lawmakers might have regarding Marylands Public
    School Construction Program.

    Putting aside the irregular circumstances of the deferral, however, I am pleased with the
    General Assemblys newfound interest in this important public health and safety priority.
    I would be happy to facilitate a discussion between the leadership of your respective
    chambers, and the children, families, employees and teachers who continue to suffer
    under conditions that none of us would ever tolerate within our own places of
    employment.
    I would also think that the Members of the General Assembly would benefit from the
    perspective of those who have successfully implemented portable air conditioning
    programs within their own jurisdictions, and can offer insight on best practices.
    Conversely, I would think that it would provide those on the other side of this debate to
    properly articulate the rationale for their opposition.
    It is in that spirit that I am respectfully requesting a joint legislative hearing on the subject
    of portable air conditioning systems in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Given the
    time sensitivities associated with the Public School Construction Program review process,
    I would recommend that this occur as quickly as possible, preferably before the beginning
    of the 2016 session. By doing so, we can provide your members with a more complete
    understanding of the stakes involved by allowing them to hear, in an open and
    transparent forum, from the very people weve been hired to serve.

    Letter to The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller


    Letter to The Honorable Michael E. Busch
    December 11, 2015
    Page Four
    I eagerly await your response, and my staff and I stand ready to answer any questions you
    might have or to provide any assistance you might need. Thank you in advance for your
    consideration.
    Sincerely,

    Peter Franchot
    Comptroller

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