MCPS planning official undermines case for Kendale school

The Director of Long-Range Planning for Montgomery County Public Schools admits that the school population in the Potomac/Seven Locks area has been declining and will continue to decline, undermining the county's rationale for building the Kendale school.

At a February 22 MCPS meeting with Potomac-area parents, Long-Range Planning Division chief Bruce Crispell heard questions about the demographic need for building the Kendale school.

"Though MCPS has cited overenrollment at Potomac Elementary as the reason for the new school," the Almanac reports, "Crispell provided data showing that Potomac’s enrollment has dropped from 648 in 2000 to 527 today, with a further decrease expected in the next two years.

"The school’s capacity of 456 will drop to 411 when full-day kindergarten is introduced, but parents noted that a new section of the Chinese Immersion Program at College Gardens Elementary in Rockville could accommodate some of the 150 immersion students currently at Potomac."