Bill looks to fix school planning | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

They say the move would slightly swell some schools, help others and fix a broken planning system.

"If you look at a school that has 400 children, (our bill) says it would become 20 kids over capacity," said Councilman Ron Dillon, R-Pasadena. "You're basically adding a child per class. I think that could be handled."

The bill's other sponsor, Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-Crownsville, said he believes intentionally crowding schools will hasten more state dollars to repair them.

But educators doubt the plan will garner more money for school construction and say that packing more children into classrooms does not improve education.

"It is widely held that smaller class sizes lead to improved learning," said Alex Szachnowicz, chief facilities officer for the school system.

Mr. Dillon and Mr. Benoit acknowledged the plan they introduced at Monday night's council meeting seems daunting "at first blush." But they argue it clarifies a system that currently distorts what should be a simple rule: prevent developers from building new homes in overcrowded school districts and allow new homes when schools have space.

"The most key issue, the most-important part of this, whether you're a citizen or a land owner, a parent or a developer, is that (the rule) reflects reality," Mr. Dillon said.

"One of the problems now is the numbers don't reflect reality."

Current county planning rules let developers build in some school districts where students outnumber seats. Conversely, some schools that appear to have capacity on paper, but in reality aren't full, are closed to development.

One of the unintended side effects has been the proliferation of senior housing throughout the county.

The problem arises from a complicated formula that both school and county leaders say imprecisely predicts which schools should be closed or open to development. Mr. Szachnowicz agreed the county's formula "has caused a lot of confusion over time."

However, the councilmen's plan not only simplifies how to predict school enrollment, but goes a step further to increase the threshold that determines when a school is full - 105 percent for elementary and 110 percent for middle and high schools.

Those two changes would encourage growth in 18 elementary school districts and three high school districts currently closed for new home construction. On the other hand, it would shut out developers in six overcrowded elementary school districts.

Plans for about 1,100 homes in districts currently closed to development would be allowed to move forward, eventually generating 420 new students in schools across the county. Those projects have lingered on a waiting list for up to six years, while developers paid various costs on the land and awaited space in schools.

Eric DeVito, president of the county Home Builder's Association, said the lengthy county approval process means it will take years for those students to appear in classrooms, and any new projects would take about four years to come to fruition.

"It's not like they're just letting the horse out of the barn here," Mr. DeVito said. "This is still a very restrictive county."

More than half of the 77 county elementary school districts are currently closed to development. The councilmen's plan would shrink that to a third.

And proponents of the plan argued that by increasing the land available for new residential development, the county will dissuade developers from building the only type of homes exempt from school-capacity rules - housing for residents 55 or older. Last March, for example, 60 percent of the 5,310 new homes planned or under construction in the county were restricted to only seniors.

"The unintended consequence of our current law is a spate of over-55 housing in places it shouldn't be located," Mr. Benoit said. "It's a great thing when they're planned, when they're put near the services they need. But a five-house, over-55 community doesn't provide the amenities the residents will need."

The councilmen also said age-restricted housing hurts the county economy because the houses have lower resale values, older residents spend less money than other residents, and rely on more county services.

The over-55 housing "hurts the tax base" and its population of residents "generally aren't fueling our local economy to the extent that a 45-year-old with a family of four would," Mr. Benoit said. "If we don't balance it, it will begin to drag on our economy."

The move to balance it with more housing and to intentionally overcrowd schools arrives against the backdrop of school budget woes that have already prompted Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell to announce he will hire 200 fewer teachers next year.

A Freetown Elementary School in Glen Burnie, only about 409 students attend a school the state says could hold 457. Mr. Dillon cites Freetown as "the poster child" of what's wrong with the current county rules - that particular district has excess space, but has been closed through flawed county calculations.

With the new plan, the school would need to serve 480 students before county officials told builders to quit.

Principal Shirley Moaney said her school is already full.

"Every room we have here, even a closet, is at capacity," she said, showing visitors crowded rooms, walking past a teacher holding class in a hallway.

She passed the assistant principal, who said she was in the halls because a school psychologist needed her office to meet with a child.

"Where is the space?" Ms. Moaney said. "Show me the space. Please, show me the space?"

BREAKDOWN OF COUNCILMEN'S PLAN

Schools currently open to new home construction, but over capacity. The councilmen's plan would forbid new subdivisions to be built in these school districts:

Belvedere Elementary*

Davidsonville Elementary

Deale Elementary

Edgewater Elementary

Marley Elementary

Riviera Beach Elementary

(*Belvedere has effectively been closed to new subdivisions because Broadneck High School was closed, shutting down development in the entire feeder system.)

Schools that are currently closed to new home construction, but would become open under the councilmen's plan:

Broadneck Elementary

Central Elementary

Ferndale Early Childhood Center

Four Seasons Elementary

Freetown Elementary

George Cromwell Elementary

Hilltop Elementary

Jessup Elementary

Jones Elementary

Manor View Elementary

Meade Heights Elementary

Severn Elementary

Shady Side Elementary

Tyler Heights Elementary

Annapolis High

Arundel High

Broadneck High

Schools that are open to new home construction, but have been effectively closed because the high school in their feeder system has been closed. Those high schools would be open under the councilmen's new plan, hence opening these elementary schools:

Annapolis Elementary

Arnold Elementary

Belvedere Elementary

Cape St. Claire Elementary

Eastport Elementary

Georgetown East Elementary

Odenton Elementary

West Annapolis Elementary

Waugh Chapel Elementary

Schools currently closed to development because they are over capacity. Under the councilmen's plan, these schools would remain closed to new subdivisions:

Benfield Elementary

Bodkin Elementary

Brock Bridge Elementary

Crofton Elementary

Folger McKinsey Elementary

Germantown Elementary

High Point Elementary

Lake Shore Elementary

Lothian Elementary

Mills-Parole Elementary

Piney Orchard Elementary

Ridgeway Elementary

Rippling Woods Elementary

Rolling Knolls Elementary

Solley Elementary

South Shore Elementary

West Meade Elementary

Windsor Farm Elementary

Old Mill High School