PowerSchool and Breslin Architects presented updated enrollment forecasts and a school‑by‑school space audit to the East Penn School District Board on Oct. 13, concluding that long‑term demographic trends point to modest enrollment declines but that building-level program changes are producing immediate capacity and quality concerns.

The district paused an earlier k–8 realignment plan in August to reopen the feasibility study. PowerSchool consultant Zach Worthen told the board the firm models both a conservative (budgeting) projection and a moderate (facilities) projection. He said new residential development is the largest exogenous factor affecting the district’s enrollment outlook: “new housing is by far the biggest factor in what’s driving…exogenous change to East Penn’s enrollment,” Worthen said.

PowerSchool’s conservative model projects continued decline in the district population over ten years; its moderate model shows a flatter trend where residential development offsets cohort contraction. Worthen said the company updates projections annually and that next-year actual enrollments typically fall between the moderate and conservative bands.

Breslin Architects’ space audit mapped rooms by original design and current use, flagging “nontraditional” spaces where classrooms, libraries or offices have been repurposed for interventions or other instructional uses. Architect Steve Behrens summarized the findings: “Classroom spaces at the elementary buildings have been reallocated to address evolving programmatic needs,” and the firm identified roughly 50 elementary rooms and 5 administrative spaces currently used in ways that reduce formal capacity.

At the middle‑school level, Behrens said IRE and LMS face scheduling constraints and quality issues: an open‑classroom design at one campus and converted faculty rooms and storage at another have created acoustics, circulation and cafeteria capacity challenges. The report identified specific buildings that reach peak capacity at different years over the ten‑year forecast; for the district summary the firm analyzed projected enrollment through 2032.

Board members asked about the envelope of uncertainty in long‑range forecasts, the role of unpermitted speculative development and whether redistricting alone can resolve space shortfalls. Worthen said projections widen farther into the future and that PowerSchool does not add unpermitted speculative development to its exogenous housing list; Behrens said redistricting can reallocate seats but will not create new square footage where specialized program rooms are lacking.

Public comment during the meeting included a facilities suggestion from former board member Ted Dobracki, who urged the board to reconsider multi‑grade center models and proposed lower-cost alternates to large renovations.

Ending

Administrators said a redistricting proposal and high‑school capacity review will return later this fall and next spring; consultants recommended matching program space to instructional needs rather than relying solely on nominal seat counts.