The Anne Arundel County administration wants to determine whether public schools are overcrowded or have open seats, so it can allow developers to build new houses and property owners to subdivide their land.
County Executive John R. Leopold?s bill would give the county planning department and the County Council authority to say which schools are overcrowded and closed to additional students coming from new development. They would use the information from the school system.
The school board now has the only say over the school utilization chart that tells the availability of seats in each school, which is enforced by the planning department.
But the school board has not approved the chart because of a pending lawsuit from a developer.
As a result, new houses cannot be built in some areas where schools could have open seats that are reflected in the unapproved chart.
And planners are noting more developers are building senior housing, which doesn?t pay school impact fees, to fill the void.
“[The school system] is not in the business of land use. All land use functions come from the council, except that one,” said Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-District 4, who represents the western part of the county, where many schools are closed to new students.
Schools spokesman Bob Mosier said Superintendent KevinMaxwell and his staff could make a recommendation on the bill at the Dec. 5 school board meeting.
The council will review the bill at its Dec. 11 work session and could vote on it Dec. 17.
Staff Writer Josh Kowalkowski contributed to this report.
BY THE NUMBERS
Number of schools closed to students per feeder system
Old Mill: 7
Broadneck: 4
Northeast: 3
South River: 3
Arundel: 3
Glen Burnie: 3
Meade: 2
Chesapeake: 2
Severna Park: 2
Annapolis: 2
Southern: 2
North County: 0
Source: Anne Arundel County Council
