Planning commission hears APF schools report; Mount Harmony Elementary flagged over capacity

Tay Harris, long-range planner with the Department of Planning and Zoning, presented the Nov. 1, 2024 Adequate Public Facilities (APF) schools report to the Calvert County Planning Commission on Nov. 20, summarizing methodology and school-level capacity calculations.

Harris told commissioners that APF rules—adopted for schools and roads and incorporated into the county code in December 2023—determine whether a public school is considered adequate when enrollment is less than 100% of local rated capacity. The report showed Mount Harmony Elementary at 106.5% of rated capacity, making it the only Calvert County public school over the county's APF threshold. Plum Point Elementary was noted at about 91.6% capacity; most other elementary, middle and high schools were below 90% capacity based on the attachments Harris referenced.

Harris explained the county's methodology for calculating elementary capacity (classroom multipliers for Pre-K, kindergarten, grades 1–5 and special-education stations) and noted exemptions for certain age-restricted housing and municipalities with their own planning authorities. He also said the code limits delays to final residential subdivision approval for school-capacity reasons to a maximum of six years from the date of preliminary approval.

A commissioner who said they were a former educator warned that rising high-school utilization trends could eventually require closing some schools and may increase property-tax pressure. Other commissioners observed a sizable number of empty middle-school seats in parts of the county (including Lusby) and suggested facility repurposing as a possible response. Harris said staff will pass commissioners’ comments to Calvert County Public Schools and pointed to attachments with the school-by-school calculations for more detail.

No formal action or vote was taken on the APF report; commissioners had no questions about the site-plan list that followed.