Commissioners Take Issue With School Utilization Study

• Overall school capacity in Carroll County is at 86 percent, an acceptable level.
• Utilization at specific schools is an issue: Manchester Valley and North Carroll High Schools are under capacity and Piney Ridge Elementary School and Liberty High School are over capacity.
• Some schools are in poor condition, including Charles Carroll and William Winchester Elementary Schools and East and West Middle Schools. 

MGT's recommendations to resolve these issues include:

• Redistricting in the North Carroll and Manchester Valley High School area. In this scenario, some students currently districted to attend Westminster High School and Winters Mill would be redistricted to attend North Carroll and Manchester Valley. 
• Replacing Charles Carroll and William Winchester Elementary Schools with one new elementary school located between the 2 current facilities. 
• Adjusting boundaries among Eldersburg, Freedom, and Piney Ridge Elementary Schools to reduce enrollment at Piney Ridge. 
• Begin planning for a new East Middle (to be located on the same campus as the new elementary school that will replace Charles Carroll and William Winchester) and for the replacement of West Middle School. 

During the presentation, several of the commissioners took issue with some of the data presented. Commissioner Richard Rothschild said he thought MGT was underestimating future school capacities. 

“The report was helpful. I’m pleased it confirms our belief that opportunities for cost savings may exist," Rothschild said. "However, I am disappointed that MGT down-rated capacity numbers below the standard State Rated Capacity figures."   

Commissioner Robin Frazier said she thought the study was supposed to find ways to be more efficient with the resources it currently has as opposed to increasing the number of facilities (MGT recommended building a new elementary school and two new middle schools to replace existing facilities that are in poor condition). 

"I am also concerned that the report seems to have lost sight of the goal of trying to develop a plan that will enable the Board of Education to reduce infrastructure costs," Frazier said. "Doing so would enable them to use more of their funds for daily operations.”  

School Superintendent Stephen Guthrie said that he and his staff will now study the recommendations and see where they fit with standing master plans, budgets and the capital improvement plans. Guthrie will then make a recommendation to the Board of Education, likely in February, he said.

Commissioner Haven Shoemaker, who was not at the presentation, said he was not in favor of spending money to hire a consultant in the first place. 

"The study was a bunch of hooey which should not have been undertaken in the first instance," Shoemaker said in a statement. "It merely confirmed what common sense already dictates--having a little excess capacity is not a bad thing, and that the outcry from some of my colleagues is overblown."

See the facilities utilization study presentation here.