Chapter 02. State Superintendent of Schools

The State Superintendent of Schools shall have the authority, either at the request of the President of the State Board of Education or on the State Superintendent’s own motion, to order a stay of any action taken by any local board of education, whether the local board's action is taken by way of rule, regulation, resolution, bylaw, or other order.

The stay shall be issued within 5 days of the date notice of the action is received by the State Superintendent or the State Board.

The stay shall not exceed 60 days in duration, unless the local board’s action has been appealed to the local board or the State Board, in which case the stay may remain in place until the State Board has issued a final decision on the appeal.

The stay may be dissolved at any time by the State Superintendent or the State Board.

Plans or specifications for the remodeling of or addition to a school building if the remodeling or addition costs more than $350,000;

Plans or specifications for the construction of a new school building; and

Change orders that cost more than $25,000 for the remodeling, restoration, or construction of a school building.

Requests for approval shall be in writing and addressed to the State Superintendent.

The State Superintendent shall approve or disapprove all applicable projects under §B of this regulation.

If the State Superintendent disapproves any plan, specification, proposal, or change order, the Superintendent shall state in writing the reasons for disapproval.

Approvals required by the fire marshal and other State and local agencies shall be obtained by the local school system before submitting a request for approval of the Superintendent.

A local school system may use Interagency Committee/Public School Construction Program (IAC/PSCP) forms for the above referenced requests. If the IAC/PSCP forms are used, a notation of Non-State Funded Project shall be placed at the top of each form.

Requests for approval shall be addressed to the State Superintendent of Schools, c/o School Facilities Branch, 200 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201.

Upon completion of the project, a letter shall be submitted to the Superintendent from the local school system certifying that the project is completed.

Notification of intent to proceed with a project under §B of this regulation;

Educational specifications consistent with the outline for educational specifications in the IAC/PSCP Administrative Procedures Guide;

Schematic plans;

Design development documents;

Construction documents;

Contract award or authorization for use of local staff;

Change orders over $25,000.

Condition of existing public school buildings;

Adequacy of existing public school buildings to support educational programs; and

Cost to upgrade facilities to specified criteria.

Identify minimum criteria based on the most recent editions of federal, State, and local facilities guidelines, standards, and codes addressing building, site, student capacity, educational programs, and supporting services factors;

Identify current construction cost estimate parameters using data from the Interagency Committee on School Construction; and

Consult with representatives of local school systems prior to issuing the assessment criteria, construction cost parameters, and survey instrument.

Subject to §D(2) of this regulation and contingent on State funding, local school systems shall:

Local school systems may exempt school buildings proposed for closing within the next 4-year period from the survey.

Scope. This section applies only to schools:

Purpose of Facilities. The facilities required in this section are to support the Physical Education instructional program required in COMAR 13A.04.13.

Design Guidelines. The design of facilities required in this section shall be based on voluntary guidelines approved by the State Board of Education for physical education programs.

The following minimum spaces are required:

Waiver.

In this regulation, the following terms have the meanings indicated.

Terms Defined.

An agency may submit an application to receive a grant on forms developed by the Department.

An application shall include:

An agency receiving a grant award shall provide matching funds from any combination of federal, county, municipal, or private sources.

The Department shall ensure that the grant does not exceed 50 percent of the total annual cost of the grantee’s program.

To the extent funds are available, the State Superintendent or designee will award grants to agencies that meet the requirements for a grant under this regulation.