Persistent school overcrowding in Prince William County has prompted a proposal to halt new housing in the Linton Hall area until more schools are built.
“School overcrowding in the Linton Hall area is a crisis,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large, who introduced the plan. The area is west of Manassas, near Nokesville and Gainesville.
Bristow Run Elementary held 1,164 students as of Nov. 30, according to the Virginia Department of Education, a jump of 80 students from June 2009 — when Bristow Run was already well over its capacity of 780.
Under the proposal, the county would not issue any new building permits for residential development until two elementary schools and one high school in the Linton Hall are built and opened, and sites for another elementary school and a new middle school are acquired.
Overcrowded schools in the county is not new. Prince William has resorted to using trailers in many instances to help alleviate the influx of students in the quickly growing county. Bristow Run used eight trailers last year to deal with its overcrowding issue.
Other overburdened schools have closed their doors to transfers to cope with the problem.
Brentsville District High School, with an enrollment of 1,626 students, is closed to out-of-district transfer students, and Battlefield High School is closed to student transfer requests and foreign exchange students for the 2010-11 school year. Nearly 2,900 students are enrolled at Battlefield — about 800 over capacity.
The county’s 11th high school — recently named “Patriot High School” by the school board — is scheduled to open in September 2011. Patriot is expected to house 2,200 students and help relieve crowding at Battlefield and Brentsville District.
From 2008 to 2009, the school system saw a 4 percent jump in enrollment, the largest increase since 1990 and adding 3,000 students to reach76,656. Enrollment also increased by about 1,000 students from 2007 to 2008.
The duty of approving new schools and determining school redistricting lies with the school board. Nevertheless, Stewart said he wants to work “aggressively” with the school board and has met with Chairman Milton Johns to discuss the matter.
