Parents, officials prepare to rally for Buckingham Elementary School capital project

WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. – The fight for a new Buckingham Elementary School continues, and parents are getting ready to rally, to bring more awareness to the issue.

“That school provides a building block for a lot of children, and a lot of those children come from economically challenged households,” Said community member, Tony Weeg.

Limited progress has been made in construction, as district officials said they haven’t gotten the state funding they need.

Parents, like Weeg, deciding to take matters into their own hands, in hopes of unifying the school board, county commissioners and hopeful community members.

“We just want them all to play well together; give us what was sort of promised to us in this cycle of school buildings, and make it right for the kids,” Weeg said. “That’s really all we want. If you can’t get behind that, what can you get behind?”

Tom Simon has a child who attends the school, so for him, the issue hits close to home.

“58% of the kids that go to Buckingham Elementary come from financially stressed homes, so I think that it’s important for all the kids here, in our community specifically, to have a fair shake,” Simon said.

Weeg said investing in the students of Buckingham Elementary means investing in the future of Worcester County.

“That future is sort of growing right now,” Weeg said. “If that future, 20 years from now, isn’t nurtured correctly, and with the latest technology and sort of the best stuff that that can be given to children, then how can we expect in 20 years for us to be flourishing like Worcester County flourishes now?”