Schools

County to Request State Funds to Address School Overcrowding

The county saw the greatest public schools enrollment increase in the state this year.

No Maryland county had a higher public school enrollment increase than Montgomery County this year, and—by the 2018-2019 school year—nearly half of the county's schools are projected to have seat deficits, according to a news release from the county executive's office.

County Executive Isiah Leggett is hoping to jumpstart a public school building program to increase capacity and modernize buildings with support from the state, in "an arrangement similar to the one approved for Baltimore City Public Schools last year," the news release added.

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here's a list of school improvements and modernizations recommended for Bethesda and Chevy Chase schools.

On Thursday, Leggett, county schools Superintendent Joshua Starr and other officials will make a request for $20 million from the state to leverage a $40 million investment made by the county in the school system. The funds would be in addition to the county's share of new authorizations from the state for school construction, according to the news release.

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Altogether, "the $60 million revenue stream would support bonds of up to $750 million, which would fund construction projects over the next five years," the news release explained.

>>>Read more about overcrowding in county schools in this article by The Washington Post.

Is your child in an overcrowded classroom in a Montgomery County public school? Tell us in the comments, or email laura.thornton@patch.com.


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