Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Efmp 2027 Draft topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District unveils FY2027 Educational Facilities Master Plan draft; county permits and aging demographics highlighted
Summary
Calvert County Public Schools staff presented the draft FY2027 Educational Facilities Master Plan, including enrollment projections, declining residential permits, and capacity concerns at several schools; the draft will be posted for a 30-day public comment period and returned to the board for approval June 12.
Shashida Warner, Director of Planning and Construction, presented the draft FY2027 Educational Facilities Master Plan (EFMP) on May 12 and outlined next steps and several key findings.
Warner said the EFMP is the district's long-range facilities road map and will be posted for a 30-day public comment period before the board considers endorsement at the June 12 meeting; the final plan is due to the Maryland Department of Planning by July 1. Warner said Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) enrollment-projection review had been submitted and that MDP typically expects district projections to be within 5% of its estimates.
The presentation highlighted demographic trends: the county's population is aging in place (residents 65 and older made up 16.9% of the population in 2023, up from 11% in 2010) while the percentage of residents ages 0–14 fell to 18.6% from 20.9% in 2010. Residential building permits declined 28% in 2024 compared with 2023—the lowest number of permits in nine years—data Warner attributed in part to higher interest rates and rising home prices. Warner noted the 2025 county population estimate of 95,030 residents, an increase of about 190 from 2024.
On capacity, Warner said the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) and the state's school-rated capacity calculations are different tools; per the county's spring 2025 APFO calculation, Mount Harmony Elementary School and Northern Middle School exceed the county threshold and are closed for final recording of residential subdivisions and site plans. Northern High School was at about 97.7% of the ordinance threshold, Warner said.
Warner summarized capital and systemic needs, including major projects reflected in the current CIP (Calvert Elementary, Calvert Country and Mount Harmony). Several projects will require studies as part of state review. Warner urged county-government collaboration to pursue priority funding designations—extending town-center boundaries could make projects easier to fund through state priority-focused programs, she said, and recommended the county pursue such changes in the next eight months to align with FY28–29 project years.
Staff told the board the EFMP will be updated after public and agency comments and that the publicly posted final document will not include building floor plans for security reasons. Warner also presented regional enrollment tables dividing Central, South and North projections and noted that the district's projected enrollment through the 2034 school year remains generally flat at roughly 14,600–14,700 students in the planning horizon.
Board members asked questions about who manages athletic facilities (director of facilities and maintenance, in coordination with athletic directors), tracking of home-instruction students (district tracks them and keeps data), and the timeline to consider possible redistricting (staff said redistricting typically takes at least a year and follows specific policy and procedures). Warner said final EFMP revisions will be presented for board endorsement at the June 12 meeting before state submission.
