About the IAC
The IAC Mission
The mission of the Interagency Commission on School Construction is to achieve a safe, healthy, and educationally sufficient learning environment for every child attending a public school in Maryland. Our vision is a fiscally sustainable statewide portfolio of Pre-K-12 school facilities that will remain educationally sufficient for current and future generations of students and teachers.
A Message From the IAC Chair
The Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) is dedicated to ensuring that every child in every school in Maryland has a sufficient place to learn. By serving as a resource for best practices and as a statewide expert in facilities operations and management, the Commission supports Local Education Agencies of every size and in every unique situation. Together, we strive to meet the facilities needs of approximately 1,400 school facilities that serve around nine hundred thousand students in our state.
The IAC and its staff are working diligently to implement new programs, such as the Built to Learn Act, and to provide critical information for decision makers, including facility condition and educational sufficiency data collected through the Statewide Facilities Assessment. And at the heart of it all, the IAC keeps its eye on the Total Cost of Ownership to ensure that all of Maryland’s students have a healthy, safe, and educationally sufficient learning environment today and in the future.
Edward Kasemeyer
IAC Chair
Interagency Commission on School Construction
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
2 Appointees of the Governor
2 Appointees of the Senate
2 Appointees of the House
State Superintendent
Secretary of Planning
Secretary of General Services
9 IAC Members
IAC Chair is jointly appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate.
reported to by
MD Dept. of Education
Designee of the State Superintendent
- Review Ed Specs for alignment with LEA goals
- Review design submissions for alignment with Ed Specs
- Provide technical assistance and advice on school facilities architecture
MD Dept. of Planning
Designee of the Secretary of Planning
- Develop annual enrollment projections
- Review Educational Facility Master Plans
- Site reviews and recommendations
- Planning advice to the IAC and LEAs
MD Dept. of General Services
Designee of the Secretary of General Services
- Review design development and construction documents
- Review eligibility of items
- Technical advice to the IAC and LEAs
Interagency Commission
Executive Director and Staff
- Manage programs and fiscal records
- Maintain facilities inventory database
- Facility and maintenance assessments
- Share best practices and provide technical support
- Recommend contract awards
- Approve Ed Specs
Statutory Requirements
The Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) is established in Title 5, Subtitle 3 of the Education Article, Annotated Code of Maryland. The IAC is subject to the Open Meetings Act and other State agencies are empowered to lend employees to serve as staff to the IAC. Currently, the Maryland Department of General Services, the Maryland Department of Planning, and the Maryland State Department of Education each lend employees to serve as staff to the IAC. Among other responsibilities, the IAC is tasked with:
- Approving sites and plans for new or improved school facilities;
- Establishing a State and local cost-share for school construction projects for each County;
- Adopting requirements for and reviewing Educational Facility Master Plans;
- Reviewing and approving Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Grant Allocation Requests;
- Adopting requirements for and reviewing Comprehensive Maintenance Plans submitted by local school systems;
- Reviewing and approving school property transfers or dispositions;
- Preparing projections of school construction needs for the Capital Debt Affordability Committee;
- Being a central repository for information on school facility design and construction best practices;
- Administering approximately ten active school construction grant programs;
- Conducting a statewide school facilities assessment and conducting ongoing assessments at each school at least once every four years;
- And more as required by statute
Roles & Responsibilities of Each IAC Unit
Funding Programs
Receives, tracks, organizes, and assesses the preliminary eligibility of applications for each IAC funding program, including:
- Capital Improvement Program
- Built to Learn Program
- Healthy School Facility Fund
- Aging Schools Program
- Enrollment Growth and Relocatable Classroom Program
- Other one-time or ad-hoc programs
Ensures compliance with all program requirements.
Planning
Considers the supply of and demand for public school capacity, which includes:
- Determining and updating state-rated capacity (SRC) for each public school;
- Considering requests to include and/or exclude the adjacent schools used to determine eligible enrollment;
- Determining eligible enrollment for major construction projects to support local planning (LP) and construction funding approvals; and
- Creating, publishing, maintaining and visualizing the IAC’s GIS information and data.
Finance
Executes all project financial administration including:
- Contract approvals;
- Project funding adjustments;
- Invoices/Reimbursements; and
- Project closeouts.
Administers the IAC’s Operating Budget.
Assessment & Maintenance
- Conducts maintenance-effectiveness assessments at 150-250 schools annually.
- Conducts facility condition and educational sufficiency assessments at 25% of all Maryland schools annually.
- Provides technical support and detailed analysis to LEAs to support the management of the entire statewide school-facilities portfolio.
Information Technology
Supports the various software, hardware, and systems utilized by the IAC, including application development and updates.
Capital Projects Management
Is the primary point of contact for LEAs seeking technical assistance with portfolio-management activities and with IAC submissions. The CPM team facilitates processes by assisting LEAs in the following ways:
- Tracking of project process and status from project initiation to completion;
- Connecting the LEA with other units of the IAC;
- Hosting monthly meetings with each LEA;
- Disseminating information to LEAs;
- Providing technical assistance both internally and externally related to project development; and
- Performing program and project analysis to support IAC processes.
Administration & Policy
Manages office and administration needs, including:
- Human resources;
- Policy analysis;
- Communications; and
- Office management.
IAC Bylaws
The IAC adopted Bylaws on May 11, 2022. Revisions were approved on December 14, 2023.