On October 13, the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Board met at a worksession to discuss the School Boundary Initiative and hear the previously selected school utilization proposal from Chief Executive Officer Dr. Monica Goldson. The primary issue the initiative is seeking to address pertains to the over- and under-utilization of school buildings. Goldson emphasized that the current proposal represents the recommendation of the school system’s Boundary Advisory Committee and the consulting group hired by the school system.
Three proposals have been contemplated: the first addressed utilization at the most severely over- and under-utilized schools while redistricting as few students as possible; the second prioritized improving utilization as widely as possible, reducing temporary classrooms and consolidating elementary schools; and the third sought to have as many students as possible attending updated and newer facilities, and removing all temporary classrooms except those in good condition. After community input, the proposal selected was the second. Most community respondents preferred the second scenario and reported most dissatisfaction with scenario one. Goldson also announced that they have decided to focus on elementary and middle schools first.
Impact on Greenbelt
In Phase 1A, for school year 2023-2024, the impacted schools include Greenbelt Elementary and Greenbelt Middle School, as well as Magnolia Elementary, located in Lanham but also serving Greenbelt. Under the proposal, 64 students currently attending Greenbelt Elementary School will be reassigned to Magnolia, impacting students who reside in the area east of the Beltway between Greenbelt Road and Good Luck Road. Meanwhile, 204 students currently attending Greenbelt Middle School will be reassigned – 200 will go to Buck Lodge Middle School and four will be within a new catchment area for William Wirt Middle School. Areas of Hollywood and College Park will no longer be zoned for Greenbelt Middle. To check if one’s zoning has changed under the new proposed boundaries, visit wxyplanning.com/pgcps-boundary-tool-phase2 and enter an address.
A welcome impact from these boundary changes will be some alleviation of the overcrowding that has been plaguing Greenbelt Middle School. This will mean fewer students in the buildings, but parents may be disappointed to hear that it will not necessarily mean smaller class sizes. This is because the reallocation of students will be accompanied by a reallocation of teachers. Goldson explained, “We base our staffing on enrollment. So, if a school loses a hundred students, then they also will lose those teachers. But do we lose those teachers from the district? Definitely not. Teachers follow students. So as one school loses a hundred students another school gains those students and, so, those teachers will be needed at another site.” Goldson said that, in the case of consolidation of schools, teachers would be reallocated to fill vacancies throughout the school system and, in addition to continued recruitment efforts, the boundary changes might help to “begin to plug some of those gaps.”
Appointed At-Large Board Member Curtis Valentine asked the board not to take for granted that teachers will stay within the district if they lose their place at a school. He pointed out that teachers may really like their school and the parent groups and school leaders they know. “We’re a very competitive region in the district,” Valentine emphasized, suggesting teachers may not follow students or choose to stay with PGCPS and he called for the administration to prioritize communication with teachers affected by the changes.
Greenbelt’s out-going School Board Representative Joshua Thomas was not present at the worksession and did not respond to questions from the Greenbelt News Review.
Goldson recently held two community listening sessions, on October 20 and October 25.
The final proposal will be introduced at the PGCPS Board meeting on Thursday, October 27, for a first reading.
