Clarksville Montgomery County Board of Education unveils rezoning plan after Freedom Elementary capacity reduction
Summary
At a public hearing staff described a Phase 2 rezoning to shift roughly 343 elementary students among neighborhoods after Freedom Elementary’s capacity was cut to 840; staff said construction remains on track for a 2026 opening and asked for public feedback; the board took no vote.
Clarksville Montgomery County Board of Education staff presented a Phase 2 elementary school rezoning recommendation at a public hearing that aims to rebalance enrollment after a reduced design capacity at the new Freedom Elementary.
Norm Brumbly, chief operations officer, told the board the district re-engaged consultants RSP and Associates in May 2025 to update enrollment models with current regional growth and student data. "We updated our models and we validated the process for the purpose of identifying and remedying any imbalances that remained," Brumbly said.
Brumbly said a revised Freedom Elementary design lowered projected capacity from "over 1,000 students" to 840 after bids and a design change reduced cost by about 10 percent. To address that shortfall, staff recommended rezoning three elementary attendance areas: staff listed Area 1 (south of Hazelwood Road and west of Trenton Road) to move 136 students from Glen Ellyn to the Northeast attendance area; Area 2 (south of Wilmer Rudolph and west of I‑24) to move 137 students from Rossview to Kirkwood; and Area 3 (south of Guthrie Highway and east of I‑24) to move 70 students from Oakland to Kirkwood.
Brumbly said Freedom construction is "currently on time and on budget for a 2026 opening," and that the district’s next opportunity for significant new capacity would not be until the 2028–29 timeframe, when a proposed elementary (referred to in staff materials as school number 27) is slated for an August 2029 opening.
Staff framed the rezoning as a temporary corrective measure to "better sustain capacity" until new school capacity can be added. Brumbly invited public feedback; the board did not vote on the rezoning at the hearing.
Next steps: staff said public comment would inform the recommendation process; the transcript records no board motion or formal action during the session, and the hearing was adjourned after public comment.
