The school was supposed to relieve overcrowding, but could open under capacity.
Frederick, Md (KM). A new school that’s intended to relieve overcrowding could be opening under capacity, according to Brad Young, President of the Frederick County Board of Education.
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The school system staff prepared a redistricting plan for Butterfly Ridge which would ease overcrowding at Hillcrest and Waverly Elementary Schools, and, to some extent, Orchard Grove Elementary. “What the plan did do was still leave Waverly way overcrowded, and opened up Butterfly Ridge under capacity, only slightly over 80%,” says Young. Waverly Elementary would beĀ more than 100% over capacity under the plan.
The School Board discussed this plan during a meeting this week. Young says the staff was told to try to come up with another plan. “So we’ve instructed staff to go back and look at a way at moving some of the students that would be at Waverly to the new Butterfly Ridge, so that Waverly will not as overcrowded and Butterfly Ridge will closer to capacity,” says Young.
He says the new plan is expected to be presented to the Board of Ed during its next meeting in May. It’s scheduled to come up for a vote on June 14th.
But Young notes that while Butterfly Ridge Elementary will be under capacity when it opens, it won’t be that way for long. “There is a lot of growth that is going on in the district that the new school will represent,” he says. “So even though it’s opening under capacity, within a couple of years within the district that it has, it will be at or over capacity.
Construction has begun on Butterfly Ridge which is located along Butterfly Lane. It’s expected to open in September, 2018.
The new Frederick High School building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2017.
By Kevin McManus