By John Curran
Frederick County Public Schools are building two new schools to alleviate overcrowding, however, these schools will be overcrowded when they open.
Frederick County has approved the funding needed to build two new elementary schools in the county, Sugarloaf Elementary and Butterfly Ridge Elementary.
Theresa Alban, superintendent of Frederick County Pubic Schools, said that when both schools open in fall 2018 they will be at maximum capacity.
“We are trying to stay ahead and build schools before developments are complete by having the planning and zoning commission alert us when permits are pulled for construction,” Alban said. “It’s not always possible because we are playing catch up and many of our current schools need to be renovated.”
The reason many schools aren’t being built is because of the number of existing schools that need to be renovated in the county. The county has many schools that are over 30 years old and are experiencing a high number of service repairs. Money is not available to do both renovations and new construction.
The previous board of county commissioners had a lot to do with the overcrowding of schools. According to Councilwoman Jessica Fitzwater, developments were being approved at a rapid rate without the consideration of schools needed in the areas where building growth was significant.
Both elementary schools have needed to be built for a long time. However, lack of funding had prevented the schools from being built.
Many of the previous commissioners had been elected on the promise that they would not increase taxes. Raising taxes is always unpopular even when it relates to education.
The former commissioners also thought that annual re-districting would solve the problem of overcrowding. Many believed students in overcrowded schools could be bused to schools that are under-enrolled.
Fitzwater spoke to the impractical nature of this plan, when she said that, “students from the city cannot be bused to Emmitsburg to offset their lower enrollments.” This plan would actually increase costs to the county schools due to the price of gasoline and transportation.
In addition, re-districting never makes anyone happy, according to Fitzwater. Parents don’t like when their children have to change schools; and, children don’t want to leave their friends.
“The building of Sugarloaf Elementary should have occurred back in the 1990s when Urbana was developing,” Alban said.
Sugarloaf Elementary will take students from Urbana Elementary and Centreville Elementary. Urbana Elementary is at 138 percent capacity and Centreville Elementary is at 152 percent capacity.
Butterfly Ridge is being built on the west side of Frederick and will be taking students from Waverly, Hillcrest, and Orchard Grove Elementary Schools. The west side of Frederick is experiencing an increase in development and a rapid increase in population due to the availability of lower cost housing.
The Frederick County Board of Education is looking at the possibility of opening a new school on the east side of town because of the development that is occurring near Monocacy and Gashouse Pike as well as in the New Market area.
Overcrowding in Frederick County has led to the rental of portables. Frederick County Public S
chools currently has 170 portable classrooms.
“The only concern I see that comes with overcrowding is the safety of the students when they are walking to and from the portable,” Alban said. Portables are not as safe in severe weather.
Student safety is a concern because children have to walk from the building to the portables. The areas cannot always be secured and students can slip away. People can avoid checking in at the office and maintaining security measures can be a problem.
While parents agree that safety is a concern, many also are concerned with the quality of education their children are receiving.
“When a teacher has 30 kids in a classroom, it is hard for them to address the needs of every student,” said Carole Kreimer, a parent who has children attending an overcrowded school.
Fitzwater, who is also a music teacher for Frederick County Public Schools, said that the biggest impact on teachers has been the recent increase in teacher to student ratio. Last year, the Board of Education increased the ratio to 30 students in one classroom.
Overcrowded schools face other problems besides finding enough classrooms for students. Fitzwater said, “The gym doesn’t get any bigger, the cafeteria doesn’t get any bigger.” The number of students has impacted lunchroom schedules and access to the gym because many classes are being held in these spaces.
Staffing decisions are based on a formula created by the county schools. These formulas are set at a fixed point in time. This can lead to a cut in teaching positions. These cuts can happen in the very schools that are experiencing overcrowding.
Overcrowding in county schools is a problem Frederick County is going to be dealing with for a long time.