It’s a little higher than projected.
Frederick,Md (KM). An increase in student enrollment has been reported this year in Frederick County Public Schools. The School System says as of September 30th, the preliminary enrollment for FCPS is 42,204. That’s an increase of 826 students over the 2016-17 academic year. This year’s enrollment is 328 students more than originally projected, according to School System officials.
“It’s does appear that we’re having another trend in increased enrollment, but it’s something Frederick County is used to,” said Paul Lebo, the School System’s Chief Administrative Officer. “This is a great place to live, and we have routinely annual increases in the number of students attending our schools.”
The school system says the increase is spread widely across the all three levels: elementary schools’ enrollment went up by 238 students; middle schools saw increased enrollment by 331 students; and high school enrollment jumped to 260 students, school system officials say. Student enrollment a special schools held steady.
“There is some overcrowding, but none we did not anticipate,” Lebo says. “We have school construction projects in the pipeline So at the beginning of the 2018 and 2019 school year, we will see two new elementary schools open.”
Butterfly Ridge Elementary School is already under construction. Work is expected to begin on Sugarloaf Elementary School. When that’s completed, students from Urbana Elementary School will attend in that building while construction gets underway on a new Urbana Elementary.
Presently, school system officials say, there are 12 elementary schools which are over 100% of their state-rated capacity. That is the number of students recommended to be in the building. They are Waverly Elementary, which is at 161%; Centerville Elementary, which is at 142%; Urbana Elementary, which is 137%; Hillcrest Elementary which is 135%; Deer Crossing, which is 130%; Tuscarora Elementary which is 121%; Brunswick Elementary School, which is 110%; Whittier Elementary which is 106%; Monocacy Elementary which is 104%; New Market and Orchard Grove Elementary schools, which are both at 103%; and Glade Elementary which is 102%. Last year, Yellow Spring Elementary was at 107%, but it’s now down to 99%; and Walkersville Elementary which was at 103%, but it’s now at 98%.
Oakdale Middle School is at 117% of state-rated capacity, and Urbana Middle is at 107%. Urbana High School is at 107% of state-rated capacity.
Despite this overcrowding, Lebo says school officials are making the best of the situation. “Our instructional partners do a phenomenal job. Our teachers and our administrators {are} maintaining an optimal learning environment for our students,” he says.
By Kevin McManus