@Alber_Verster worked kinda. You need an extra ',' included in the map url between the lat/lon.
concat('<a href=','"https://www.google.com/maps/place/@',${school_lat},',',${school_lon},',17z">Google</a>')
The only issue I still have is embedding the new concat-ed variables in my 'hint' attribute. Once I add them back it jacks it up.

I have several variables I'm adding as you can see and by using the <br> tags it cleans up the display (versus one variable as shown above). I notice the extra space before the address string. Maybe I need to do a concat on the entire html string?
I'm testing using Edge and not sure how to have the html breaks <br> removed. Here is an example:
concat(${school_address_street},' ',${school_address_city},', ',${school_address_state}, '<br>',${school_address_county},' County')
Here is the result:

Hmmmmm....
Regards,
Todd