FCPS recommends redistricting maps for city schools, 'a massive shuffling of students'

May 3—Frederick County Public Schools officials on Wednesday presented Superintendent Cheryl Dyson's recommended maps for a redistricting project that could see nearly 2,500 students switching schools.

The project is referred to as the Crestwood Area Redistricting Study, because it's being prompted by an upcoming addition to Crestwood Middle School that will boost capacity there by 300 seats.

As a result, FCPS says, it needs to shift enrollments at surrounding middle schools.

And when attendance boundaries change at one level, the effect usually cascades to other levels, too.

Dyson's recommended redistricting plan, which the Frederick County Board of Education reviewed at its work session Wednesday afternoon, would move 425 elementary school students, 1,054 middle school students and 969 high school students.

The largest group of affected students — 436 children from neighborhoods just north of the Golden Mile — would be moving from Monocacy Middle School to West Frederick Middle School.

The second largest group, 429 students, would move from Frederick High School to Gov. Thomas Johnson High School.

In all, the proposal would affect students from 12 schools. The changes will not take effect until the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.

School board members said on Wednesday that the title of the project was sort of a misnomer. The significant shifts to attendance boundaries are necessary because of rapid development and population growth in and around the city of Frederick, they said.

"I'm not sure if we should be calling this the Crestwood Middle redistricting," Board President Sue Johnson said. "It's more how FCPS is handling unbridled growth. ... This is a massive shuffling of students."

Elizabeth Pasierb, FCPS' facilities planning supervisor, told board members her team has been constantly tracking the number of dwelling units in each school attendance area that had been approved, but not yet built.

In the TJ High attendance area alone, there are more than 5,000 dwelling units in the pipeline, she said. In the Spring Ridge Elementary School attendance area, there are about 3,500.

"My hands are sweating," Johnson said as Pasierb reviewed those numbers. She later put her head down.

Board member Karen Yoho called the development figures "mind-boggling."

FCPS is by far the fastest-growing public school district in Maryland. The constant enrollment increases and an aging portfolio of facilities have created unique space and capacity challenges for the district, officials have long said.

A page dedicated to the redistricting study on FCPS' website allows families to enter their home address and see whether their student is expected to change schools.

The page also includes a schedule of community engagement sessions that will take place in the coming weeks at a variety of schools.

The school board is set to hold a public hearing on the redistricting plan in August and vote on them in September.

Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter: @jillian_atelsek