Enrollment boom hits counties unevenly The enrollment boom in Washington-area schools is straining some areas more than others as parents prepare to send their kids back to the classroom.
As thousands upon thousands of new students flood the public school systems of Montgomery and Fairfax counties, more established neighborhoods — and the District’s wealthier ones — are bursting at the seams despite new construction, expansions and portable classrooms.
| Montgomery County clusters | ||||||||||
| 2011-2012 | 2016-2017 | |||||||||
| Elementary schools over capacity | Secondary schools over capacity | Elementary schools over capacity | Secondary schools over capacity | |||||||
| Bethesda-Chevy Chase | 100% (7) | 100% (2) | 71% (5) | 100% (2) | ||||||
| Winston Churchill | 20% (1) | 67% (2) | 20% (1) | 33% (1) | ||||||
| Clarksburg | 83% (5) | 67% (2) | 100% (6) | 67% (2) | ||||||
| Damascus | 0% (0) | 67% (2) | (2) | 20% (1) | 67% (2) | |||||
| Downcounty Consortium | 64% (18) | 7% (1) | 43% (12) | 29% (4) | ||||||
| Gaithersburg | 40% (4) | 33% (1) | 50% (5) | 33% (1) | ||||||
| Walter Johnson | 67% (4) | 33% (1) | 83% (5) | 33% (1) | ||||||
| Col. Zadok Magruder | 50% (3) | 0% (0) | 83% (5) | 0% (0) | ||||||
| Richard Montgomery | 100% (4) | 50% (1) | 100% (4) | 50% (1) | ||||||
| Northeast Consortium | 63% (10) | 50% (4) | 69% (11) | 50% (4) | ||||||
| Northwest | 71% (5) | 0% (0) | 86% (6) | 100% (4) | ||||||
| Poolesville | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | ||||||
| Quince Orchard | 100% (5) | 33% (1) | 80% (4) | 67% (2) | ||||||
| Rockville | 80% (4) | 0% (0) | 80% (4) | 50% (1) | ||||||
| Seneca Valley | 75% (3) | 33% (1) | 75% (3) | 67% (2) | ||||||
| Sherwood | 20% (1) | 33% (1) | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | ||||||
| Watkins Mill | 25% (1) | 0% (0) | 50% (2) | 33% (1) | ||||||
| Walt Whitman | 60% (3) | 100% (2) | 40% (2) | 100% (2) | ||||||
| Thomas S. Wootton | 17% (1) | 67% (2) | 0% (0) | 33% (1) | ||||||
| *Note: Takes into account many capital improvement plans expected in the next five years. | ||||||||||
| D.C. Public Schools | ||||||||||
| Total schools | Schools over capacity | Schools using 60% or less of capacity | ||||||||
| Ward 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Ward 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | |||||||
| Ward 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | |||||||
| Ward 4 | 15 | 5 | 3 | |||||||
| Ward 5 | 15 | 1 | 4 | |||||||
| Ward 6 | 16 | 3 | 5 | |||||||
| Ward 7 | 20 | 1 | 13 | |||||||
| Ward 8 | 20 | 1 | 10 | |||||||
| *Note: Some specialty centers, such as a juvenile detention school, were omitted. | ||||||||||
| Fairfax County schools | ||||||||||
| 2010-2011 | Five years out | |||||||||
| Area | Elementary schools over capacity | Secondary schools over capacity | Elementary schools | Secondary schools | ||||||
| Cluster 1: Herndon, Langley and McLean | 31% (5) | 50% (3) | 44% (7) | 67% (4) | ||||||
| Cluster 2: Falls Church, Madison and Marshall | 72% (13) | 33% (2) | 83% (15) | 83% (5) | ||||||
| Cluster 3: Annandale, Stuart and Woodson; TJHSST | 29% (5) | 25% (2) | 59% (10) | 75% (6) | ||||||
| Cluster 4: Hayfield, Mount Vernon and West Potomac | 47% (9) | 0% (0) | 68% (13) | 67% (4) | ||||||
| Cluster 5: Edison, Lee and South County | 19% (3) | 33% (2) | 63% (10) | 33% (2) | ||||||
| Cluster 6: Lake Braddock, Robinson and West Springfield | 17% (3) | 33% (2) | 22% (4) | 17% (1) | ||||||
| Cluster 7: Centreville, Chantilly and Fairfax | 63% (10) | 71% (5) | 75% (12) | 57% (4) | ||||||
| Cluster 8: Oakton, South Lakes and Westfield | 21% (4) | 50% (3) | 58% (11) | 83% (5) | ||||||
Yet other area schools have open seats and idle space.
“It’s a matter of density in housing, and where the growth quarters have been, and high numbers of ethnic populations where you see higher birth rates,” said Denise James, director of facilities planning services for Fairfax County Public Schools. “It’s a mixed bag, but overall we’re seeing alarming growth.”
The majority of elementary schools in areas like Falls Church and Vienna are over capacity; Cunningham Park in Vienna is at 129 percent capacity, for instance, and is expected to add another 150 students in five years.
The Fairfax County School Board recently approved boundary changes to relieve crowding at Annandale High School — operating at 117 percent capacity — and other schools nearby.
“The boundary solution we look at as a last resort, because it’s so contentious,” James said.
Montgomery County is housing 10,000 students in 418 portable classrooms as it dives into the new school year.
Every elementary school in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Quince Orchard and Richard Montgomery clusters are over capacity; so are the middle and high schools in the BCC, Clarksburg and Walt Whitman clusters.
And despite more than 100 expansions, renovations and portable classrooms planned to relieve overcrowding, many of the schools still will be overflowing in five years.
“They’re established areas where there’s not a lot of new housing and not a lot of space to build,” said Bruce Crispell, director of long-range planning for Montgomery County Public Schools. “Add in the recession, where a lot of these kids are coming back from nonpublic schools.”
Meanwhile, the Poolesville area is filling just 75 percent of its elementary school capacity, below the school system’s preferred floor of 80 percent. Gaithersburg is in the same boat, and middle schools are below target enrollment there and in Quince Orchard.
These areas have more space and simply more capacity, Crispell said.
Lines are drawn starkly around race and class in D.C. Public Schools: Every school in affluent, white Ward 3 is projected to be over capacity this school year, while most Ward 7 schools are at 60 percent or less — Ron Brown Middle School in Deanwood will fill just 16 percent of its capacity.
Half of Ward 8 schools have similarly dismal enrollment. And while charter schools are significantly more prevalent across the Anacostia River, Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry said his schools aren’t getting enough resources to attract students.
“Ballou and Anacostia ought to be getting more than Wilson. Their need is greater,” he said.
The school system identifies 15 schools each year that are under-enrolled and increases publicity to those programs, “because perception is an important part of it,” said Abigail Smith, chief of transformation management for DCPS.
This year’s turnarounds include Sousa Middle School in Ward 7. Although the principal recently resigned, he “moved student achievement, there’s an arts-integrated focus, it’s a lovely building,” Smith said. “There’s a lot to sell.”
