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SMCPS work session: district will monitor enrollment; White Marsh Elementary flagged as potential closure if declines continue
Summary
At a Feb. 4 work session, Canon Design and St. Mary's County Public Schools staff recommended monitoring enrollment for two years and advanced a plan that could close White Marsh Elementary by 2028 if student counts do not recover; staff proposed a phased approach for any high-school redistricting and outlined costs, transportation scenarios and notification timelines.
Canon Design presented redistricting analysis at the St. Mary's County Board of Education work session on Feb. 4, recommending the board monitor enrollment for two years while keeping a closure of White Marsh Elementary as a possible long-term option if declines persist.
Canon Design reported two rounds of community surveys and described community priorities: program quality over proximity, maintaining neighborhood continuity and minimizing the number of families affected by moves. The consultant said Survey 2 drew 2,340 responses and that over 5,000 combined responses across surveys and more than 600 meeting attendees gave the team a substantial public record to build options from.
Two districtwide elementary/middle options and one option that would close White Marsh emerged as leading candidates. Canon's analysis showed Option 1 (balanced utilization) would affect roughly 34% of elementary students and 17% of middle-school students; Option 3 (close White Marsh) would affect about 36% of elementary students and 17% of…
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