WASHINGTON – There’s a math problem in Montgomery County. Public school administrators say they need millions to maintain and expand aging buildings to accommodate steady and sharp increases in enrollment, while county and state governments are facing tight budgets.
This year the enrollment in the county went up by 2,433 students. That’s been the pattern for the last five years.
“That’s a whole high school that we have to build every single year to provide that seating capacity,” says James Song, director of Facilities Management for Montgomery County Public Schools.
From 1950 to 1972, Montgomery County opened 155 schools to deal with the baby boom. From 1972 to 1983, 60 schools closed as the school population dropped by 35,000. Then there was a bounce-back. The growth of the region combined with a “baby boomlet” put the squeeze on the county school system. Now there are many schools that still have portable classrooms — what the school system calls “relocatables” — and in one case, a moratorium on development because the schools are so over capacity. (That moratorium on new development centers on schools in the Richard Montgomery High School cluster in Rockville.)
The growth combined with the age and the need for upkeep at area schools are just some of the reasons that the Montgomery County School Board is asking for $1.4 billion in its capital budget for fiscal year 2013 to 2018. Given budget challenges, including increased budget pressure from Annapolis where there’s a move to force counties to contribute to teacher pensions payments, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has proposed a capital budget of $1.3 billion, $133 million dollars less than the school board’s request.
The County Council will have the final say when it votes on the budget this spring. A panel of school officials including Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr attended a briefing before the county council’s Education Commmittee to talk about the Capital Improvements Plan and where the focus on growth and school construction could be.
- Official enrollment for 2011-12 school year is 146,497. That’s 2,433 more than the previous year
- Elementary enrollment is expected to climb then plateau over the six year period (fiscal years 2013-2018)
- Birth rates have remained at historically high levels over the past 10 years (13,273 in 2010)
- Overall enrollment is expected to climb to 156,020 through fiscal year 2018
Areas growing at the fastest rates include Clarksburg in upper Montgomery County and the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Follow Kate Ryan and WTOP on Twitter. (Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)