As state and local authorities wrestle to cut spending in the face of dire budget forecasts, new numbers shared Thursday by the
Montgomery County schools show a significant increase in kindergartners ready to flood the county’s classrooms for the next 12 years.
While most other grade levels saw a slight decrease in enrollment between 2007 and 2008, kindergarten enrollment grew by 573 students to 9,524, an increase of more than 6 percent from 8,951 kindergartners in 2007.
By 2013, the county projects total elementary school enrollment to grow more than 7 percent to 60,619 from 56,432 in 2007.
And though County Executive Isiah Leggett on Tuesday gave the schools near-full funding for its construction projects through 2014, including two new elementary schools and 23 building additions, state funding is less certain, and revenue predictions beyond 2009 give county officials cause for dread.
“We need to get everyone to the table now – the council, the executive, the superintendent, the board, PTAs, the state delegation,” said County Councilman Michael Knapp. “There’s no blame to assign for a bad economy, but if we wait until the fall, it’ll turn to fingerpointing.”
The enrollment numbers were presented to the County Council’s education committee in a Thursday meeting in Rockville.
“We’re back into a significant growth mode for elementary enrollment,” Joseph Lavorgna, director of facilities management for the schools, told the committee.
Lavorgna expects about $50 million, or around one-fifth of yearly capital spending, to come from the state, but recognizes the timing to be poor especially after Wednesday’s state budget allotted only $20 million for the first and larger of two rounds of handouts.
“The Montgomery County legislative delegation will do well if they get $50 million, but that’s just one year. We need more than one
year,” Lavorgna said after the meeting.
Much of the county’s recent growth has come with a demographic shift toward lower-income and non-English-speaking residents.
Still, Knapp remained optimistic that the school system would retain its standards. “Our community is what our community is, and it’s a great place to live,” he said. “Our job is to respond to our changing needs.”
