School allocations granted

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010

County officials predicted last week that in the next six months, available seats in schools will allow for an estimated 140 new residences based on the upcoming cycle of allocations.

The Charles County commissioners made changes to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance in 2008 to require school seats to be open at all elementary, middle and high schools in a school district before residential buildings can be built in that district.

Developers can only build homes based on school allocations, or available seats in a school district. One allocation is equivalent to one residence. According to Zak Krebeck, senior planner for research and infrastructure management for Charles County, three six-month cycles have passed with the new restrictions and in that time the allocations have been between 138 and 144.

"We don't anticipate that the next six-month cycle would fall [from] within that range as well," Krebeck said.

According to the summary of school allocations report at a meeting of the commissioners and school board Jan. 26, there were 144 allocations granted to 13 projects over the past six months.

Krebeck said 25 allocations were also accepted for minor subdivisions and lots and building permits already in existence for a total of 169 allocations.

He explained to the commissioners and Charles County Board of Education members the procedures for determining the number of allocations available at each school zone.

Allocations are determined by looking at a school's maximum capacity, school enrollment numbers and the number of students estimated per household.

Commissioners and board members reviewed a summary of school allocations for the upcoming six-month cycle January to July 2010.

On the elementary school level four schools, William A. Diggs, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer and Malcolm in Waldorf, and T.C. Martin in Bryantown, are overcrowded based on the allocation formula, so no homes can be built in those districts.

All six middle schools have available allocations and three high schools, North Point and Westlake in Waldorf and La Plata in La Plata, are overcrowded based on the allocation formula.

After reviewing the report, Roberta S. Wise, chairwoman for the board of education, told commissioners' President F. Wayne Cooper (D) that the school board accepted the report with no further discussion.

Commissioners voted to accept the school allocations as reported and eligible projects within the school zones would be notified.

Charles L. Wineland, assistant superintendent for supporting services, said in a later interview that due to no new school being built during this cycle or last cycle, the allocation process and meeting was "cut and dry."

He said some area schools saw an increase in available allocations based on all-day kindergarten additions which increased the amount of students the school could hold.

Wineland said once the economy starts to pick up and more houses are built the allocations will begin to fluctuate more.

gphillips@somdnews.com