MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council Planning Commission VIA: Tony Tomasello, City Manager FROM: John Schlichting, Director of Planning and Code Administration DATE: June 29, 2018 SUBJECT: Residential development impacts from the MCPS FY 2019 Capital Budget and the FY 2019-2024 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) The latest Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) FY 2019 Capital Budget and the FY 2019-2024 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) was recently approved by the Montgomery County Council on May 24, 2018. The information in this memo is based upon the City’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) and the forthcoming FY 2019 Educational Facilities Master Plan and the FY 2019-2024 CIP. Note that the FY 2019 Master Plan CIP is scheduled to be published July 2018, and will be available at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx. Staff has spoken with MCPS staff and no significant changes are expected in the final published Master Plan CIP. Attached for your review are the relevant materials for the following high school clusters, which City of Gaithersburg residents attend: Gaithersburg Quince Orchard Colonel Zadok Magruder Watkins Mill Northwest Thomas S. Wootton Pursuant to the City’s APFO (Chapter 24, Article XV) adopted January 2, 2007 and amended October 19, 2009; April 16, 2012; and October 12, 2015; school capacity exists to support residential development at all locations within the City of Gaithersburg. A map has been provided illustrating that no area of the City is under City APFO moratorium. Two additional maps show those areas under moratorium or conditionally open, based upon the County Subdivision Staging Policy (SSP) test. In accordance with the § 24-246 amendment, the capacity of affected schools is analyzed in the fifth year of the capacity projections, SY (school year) 2022-2023. Those areas where projected enrollment exceeds 150% of program capacity during the review period are under strict moratorium and new preliminary development plans cannot be approved in these areas. For the FY 2019 CIP, no areas of the City are under strict moratorium under § 24-246 of the City Code. FY 2019 City Adequate Public Facilities - Schools Test Changes of Note from the Previous Year’s Memo For last year’s FY 2018 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY 2017-2022 CIP, three schools, Strawberry Knoll Elementary, Summit Hall Elementary, and Rachel Carson Elementary, were nearing the 150% utilization limit of the City’s APFO, which would place development in those school service areas in moratorium. For this year’s FY 2019 Master Plan CIP, the same three schools remain near the 150% utilization limit of the City’s APFO, and one additional school, Rosemont Elementary, is also nearing the APFO limit. Rosemont Elementary School, within the Gaithersburg Cluster, previously had an enrollment projection of 138.3% for last year’s APFO test year of SY 2021-2022. For SY 2022-2023, Rosemont was projected to be at 147.3% capacity in last year’s FY 2018 CIP. For this year’s FY 2019 CIP, Rosemont Elementary’ s enrollment projection for SY 2021-2022 has decreased to 140.0% capacity, reflecting both a decrease in the projected number of students, declining from 903 to 819, and a reduced program capacity of 585 this year versus 613 from last year. Also within the Gaithersburg Cluster, Strawberry Knoll and Summit Hall Elementary schools both show an increase in utilization for SY 2022-2023, rising from 141.0% and 143.4%, respectively, to 147.4% and 149.5%, respectively. The increased utilization at Strawberry Knoll Elementary School is due to an increase in the projected enrollment for SY 2022-2023, rising from 664 students in last year’s FY 2018 CIP to 687 in this year’s FY 2019 CIP. The increased utilization at Summit Hall Elementary School is due to a reduction in program capacity, declining from 461 in last year’s FY 2018 CIP to 438 in this year’s FY 2019 CIP, even though enrollment for SY 2022-2023 is projected to decrease from 661 students in last year’s CIP to 655 in this year’s CIP. To address overcrowding at the elementary schools in the Gaithersburg Cluster, the Board of Education authorized removing the proposed addition at Gaithersburg Elementary from the CIP and replacing it with a new elementary school, Gaithersburg ES #8. As part of a future boundary study, some students will be reassigned from the Rosemont, Strawberry Knoll, and Summit Hall ES service areas to the service area of the new Gaithersburg ES #8 upon its tentative opening in September 2022. Rachel Carson Elementary School, within the Quince Orchard Cluster, had an enrollment projection of 141.0% capacity for SY 2022-2023 in last year’s FY 2018 CIP, which has increased to 146.3% utilization in this year’s FY 2019 CIP. Rachel Carson’s increased utilization is due to an increase in the projected number of students for SY 2022-2023, rising from 973 in last year’s CIP to 1011 in this year’s CIP. Kindergarten enrollment at Rachel Carson has been relatively stable from 2006 to 2011, at about 130 to 140 students. However, in 2012 enrollment spiked up to 175 kindergarten students. To address the overcrowding at Rachel Carson, the Board of Education approved the Superintendent’s recommendation to create additional capacity at Dufief Elementary as part of its reconstruction project, which is tentatively scheduled for a September 2022 completion date. As part of a future boundary study, approximately 300-350 students will be reassigned from the Rachel Carson service area to the Dufief service area. June 29, 2018 Page 2 FY 2019 City Adequate Public Facilities - Schools Test The FY 2019 CIP includes funding to begin planning for a new high school on the Crown Neighborhood 6 site, which is currently owned by the City of Gaithersburg. A future CIP will include additional funding, phasing scheduling, and a completion date for the new high school. Gaithersburg Cluster MCPS completed a capacity study in 2015 for the entire Gaithersburg Cluster and, due to continued residential growth at Crown and Shady Grove Metro, recommended conducting a larger utilization and capacity study to evaluate the Gaithersburg, Magruder, and Wootton clusters. The Tri-cluster Study was completed in spring 2016 and recommended an addition to Gaithersburg ES and a reassignment of the portion of the County’s Shady Grove Sector Plan within the Gaithersburg Cluster to the Magruder Cluster schools. The Board of Education adopted both Study recommendations. In fall 2016, the Board of Education authorized the recommended boundary study to reassign the Unity area north of Laytonsville from the Gaithersburg Cluster to Sherwood Cluster schools. The boundary study was completed in March 2017 and took effect in fall 2018, resulting in a small reduction in the number of students at Gaithersburg Middle School and Gaithersburg High School. In fall 2016, the Board of Education authorized the recommended boundary study to reassign the County’s Shady Grove Sector Plan area from the Gaithersburg Cluster to Magruder Cluster schools. The boundary study report was completed in September 2017, but the re-assignment of students is on hold, pending the outcome of the site selection for a new elementary school within the Gaithersburg Cluster and the impacts of a new school on the utilization at the remaining elementary schools. Following the Tri-cluster Study, in fall 2017, the Board of Education recognized the limitations and challenges of placing a single large addition only at one of the several over-utilized schools within the Cluster. The Board then authorized a site selection committee for a new elementary school to be constructed within the Gaithersburg Cluster and removed the proposed addition at Gaithersburg Elementary from the CIP. The site selection committee’s rankings showed Kelley Park as the site that best met the committee’s criteria. On June 4, 2018, the Mayor and City Council authorized the City Manager to begin negotiations with MCPS for locating a new elementary school on a portion of Kelley Park. MCPS will next conduct a feasibility analysis that may result in multiple design options for consideration by the Mayor and City Council. Following the selection of a final design for the school, MCPS will proceed with a boundary study for the new school prior to its opening, which will result in reduced utilization at the Gaithersburg, Rosemont, Strawberry Knoll, Summit Hall, and Washington Grove elementary schools within the Gaithersburg Cluster. June 29, 2018 Page 3 FY 2019 City Adequate Public Facilities - Schools Test Olde Towne, Fairgrounds, Lakeforest Mall, and Frederick Avenue Four of the schools serving Olde Towne, the Fairgrounds, Lakeforest Mall, and Frederick Avenue have high rates of utilization, namely Rosemont Elementary School (140.0%), South Lake Elementary School (111.3%), Summit Hall Elementary School (149.5%), and Neelsville Middle School (116.8%). Staff will continue to monitor these schools for possible impacts to development proposals. Other Information of Note While Northwest High School is at 118.3% of capacity for SY 2022-2023, its overutilization will be relieved through a future boundary study and reassignment to Seneca Valley High School, which has been funded for a larger capacity of 2,400 students during its revitalization/expansion project. Because the Seneca Valley project is scheduled for completion by September 2020, the actual enrollment at Northwest High School for SY 2022-2023 is expected to be lower, following the completion of the