Presenters at the Howard County Board of Educations Jan. 16 meeting briefed members on public-private partnership (P3) models used by other jurisdictions to speed school construction, replace aging buildings and transfer some long-term maintenance risk to private partners.

The P3 presentation, led by Dan Lubli, executive director of Capital Planning and Construction, and presenters from the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure and Prince Georges County Public Schools, described phased programs that paired private financing, design-build teams and private maintenance contracts to deliver multiple schools on an accelerated timetable.

School system staff said P3s are not a form of privatization: the public sector retains ownership, operations and oversight. Sean Matlock, who directed Prince Georges Countys Office of Alternative Infrastructure Planning and Development, told the board his district used a design-build-finance-maintain model (DBFOM) for two tranches that replaced dozens of aging elementary and middle schools and wiped out deferred maintenance on the delivered buildings.

Matlock said the first tranche delivered six schools (five middle schools and one K-8) under a roughly $485 million DBFOM contract and that the second tranche was approximately $800 million for eight schools. He said the state later contributed to the second tranche, and that the private-finance structure enabled the county to secure fixed-price contracts and a long-term lifecycle maintenance program tied to performance standards.

Advocates and advisers on the panel described benefits they said P3s can produce: accelerated delivery of multiple projects at scale, stronger life-cycle budgets with scheduled refresh and replacement built into contracts, more predictable long-term costs, contractual response times for repairs and additional private-sector incentives to meet schedules. Jensen Clark and other private-sector participants recounted timely construction through supply-chain volatility and competitive financing terms led by lenders that underwrote long maturities.

Speakers also warned of tradeoffs: private financing costs are usually higher than tax-exempt public debt; equity must be placed in deals; early, sustained public support and reliable revenue sources (local or state funding) are essential; and the procurement and oversight burden is substantial. Panelists said the model tends to work best for aggregated programs of many similar buildings where economies of scale and replication reduce costs; both Prince Georges tranches focused on elementary and middle schools rather than high schools, which they said are often too costly for replication advantages.

Howard County staff said the central office is arranging funds for a P3 feasibility study and will review potential models, legal considerations and revenue options. Board members asked about design controls, educational specifications, how state funds could be included, and whether private providers can meet the districts standards. Presenters said local educational specifications were embedded into Prince Georges contracts; independent third-party engineers reviewed compliance; and the contracts included enforceable performance standards and penalties tied to availability payments.

More detailed questions from board members covered: how equity and debt are balanced in the financing stack; what projects and school types produce the best value-for-money analyses; how economies of scale affect procurement and supply-chain pricing; potential impacts on operating budgets, and the staff and consultant resources required to manage the procurement.

Howard County staff said they will bring the results of the planned feasibility study back to the board as work progresses.

Ending: The board received detailed briefings and asked staff to continue analysis; staff said they would return with consultant-derived value-for-money analysis and a scope for a local P3 study.