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DENTON — The Caroline County Board of Education, the Caroline County Commissioners, and members of their respective financial teams met on Tuesday, February 17, for a joint budget workshop focused largely on the upcoming middle school build. Current projections put the project at around $100 million, of which Caroline County’s local share hovers around $25 million.
These numbers are likely to change as the design process moves forward. Caroline County Public Schools Director of Operations Bill Mengel said the dollar amounts will, if anything, go down. This is because the cost is estimated based on a per-square-foot formula, and the school system is asking for a 140,000 square foot middle school. The Interagency Commission on School Construction could deny that this much square footage is needed and decrease the footprint, therefore decreasing the cost. “We’re not going to get any more than that, to put it that way,” Mengel said.
According to the numbers presented at the meeting, the local share for the county is $1.432 million in FY27, $8.128 million in FY28, and $15.518 million in FY29. In total, the project is expected to exceed $100 million, with the state covering the majority.
Superintendent Dr. Derek Simmons said the district is currently in a holding period as it awaits final state funding decisions. “Then architecture will pick up really quick,” Simmons said. The district’s goal is still to have “shovels in the ground” by July of 2027, and students in the building by the 2029-2030 school year.
Deputy County Administrator Danny Fox said that as long as all goes to plan, the county is prepared to cover its local share, “we are fulling planning on pay-going this and essentially paying this out of savings from past years where we’ve had favorable years as well as setting aside money through the next two or three years to essentially do this out of pocket.”
Commission President Travis Breeding said, “Thanks to Commissioner Porter and the boards prior to this board for being fiscally responsible and putting us into a position where we don’t have to borrow money to do these types of projects.”
The Commissioners and Board of Education also discussed the design and practical needs of the school.
“Let’s build practical,” said Commissioner Breeding. Dr. Simmons agreed, adding that while the state will fund a school built to 10-year population growth projections, “it only takes a couple of developments” to drastically increase the student body population, so the district plans to have space to expand around the new school if needed. Commissioner Larry Porter said this would be especially important in the wake of Governor Wes Moore’s focus on housing.
Dr. Simmons also noted that currently, the only school building in the county that has a generator big enough to serve as an emergency shelter is Colonel Richardson High School, which is not in an ideal location. He hopes the new middle school may be able to serve this purpose for north county residents in the event of an emergency.
Commissioner Porter pointed out that there is no money in the budget for anything to do with the existing school, and he would like to strongly advocate for the Lockerman Alumni Association to be involved in the next steps with the Lockerman Middle School building. On that note, there was a brief discussion on the name for the new school, which has proven to be a point of contention. Dr. Simmons said the decision for whether the Lockerman name will travel with the school or remain in its current location will be made down the road, and it's going to take lots of discussion and collaboration with community members.
Updated to include graphic of cost share on Feb. 19, 2026.
