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East Penn removes canceled Lower Macungie development from enrollment forecasts; architects say space shortfalls remain
Summary
PowerSchool removed the Belle Chase development from East Penn enrollment projections after discovering the project had been canceled; Breslin Architects updated a space-utilization analysis and concluded the district still relies on roughly 50 nontraditional instructional spaces and will face capacity pressures in some schools.
East Penn School District officials told the board Monday that a residential project mistakenly included in this month’s enrollment forecast has been removed and that the updated figures shave only a small amount from previously reported growth.
The district and its projection vendor, PowerSchool, informed board members that the Belle Chase (Mill Creek Point) development in Lower Macungie Township was canceled and had been incorrectly included in the district’s new-residential list. "When we received a new cycle list this year from the township planners, they had left the Belle Chase project off, having known that that permit had been canceled," said Zachary Worthen, a PowerSchool representative. He said the firm recalculated the housing counts and enrollment projections after the error was confirmed.
The updated forecast removes roughly 180 housing units tied to Belle Chase (with occupancy staged across 2026–2028 in the initial forecast). Worthen said PowerSchool’s yield calculations translated that project into about 54 elementary students and about 63 students across middle/high grades; removing the project reduces those future grade-band estimates accordingly.
Why it matters: the enrollment numbers feed Breslin Architects’ space-utilization work, and the architects told the board their conclusions were largely unchanged despite the correction. "The net impact of the numbers…was to reduce the number of sections in the potential future need," said Steve Behrens of Breslin Architects. For example, the analysis reduced potential classroom need in the Willow Lane attendance area from about 30 sections to 26; district-wide elementary section need moved from 157 to 153.
Board members asked for school-by-school breakdowns and for greater clarity on when additional classrooms would be required. "I think that would be helpful to have it broken down by school," said Dr. Whitney. Behrens and Worthen said the projection methodology (cohort progression plus housing yield rates) produces grade-by-grade cohorts and that small changes in housing supply typically do not alter district-level conclusions so much as they shift timing at particular schools.
Breslin also rechecked its assessment of nontraditional instructional spaces — rooms that were not designed as classrooms, are too small or overutilized, or have been co-opted for instruction. The architects reported about 50 such nontraditional spaces in East Penn elementary buildings and said the district’s projected growth would continue to exacerbate those constraints even after the housing correction. "While the enrollment projections are slightly lower, the growth would still exacerbate the present day space constraints and utilization that makeshift spaces are occurring at the elementary school level," Behrens said.
Board discussion and next steps: members debated whether to tour a sample of nontraditional spaces before making long-term decisions. Some trustees said a small set of site visits would build understanding, while others cautioned tours should not slow planning. Several board members pressed for a building-by-building analysis to identify cost-effective fixes such as properly outfitted subdivided spaces, movable partitions, acoustics, HVAC improvements or modest additions.
District administrators said a follow-up presentation will lay out redistricting options and conceptual building-level solutions in coming months; those options will include cost and operational implications. Worthen and Breslin both emphasized the updated forecast is an information-only correction and that no action was required at Monday’s meeting.
Provenance: PowerSchool first described the canceled project and its removal in the enrollment presentation; Breslin Architects presented the revised space-utilization charts and discussed impacts to Willow Lane, the elementary section totals, and middle-school timing. Ending remarks and board direction on building tours and next steps closed the discussion.
