Linganore-Oakdale-Urbana Area Redistricting Study
Frequently Asked Questions
*This page updated frequently. Please check back for updates.
What schools are included in this redistricting study?
Elementary: Centerville, Deer Crossing, Green Valley, Kemptown, Liberty, New Market, Oakdale, Twin Ridge, Urbana and the portion of Spring Ridge attendance area east of the Monocacy River Middle: New Market, Oakdale, Urbana and Windsor Knolls middle schools as well as the Gov. Thomas Johnson Middle School attendance area east of the Monocacy River High: Linganore, Oakdale and Urbana
Is Gov. Thomas Johnson High or Walkersville High included in this redistricting study?
No.
Does this process take into account future students, or only existing students?
Student data presented on the planning block maps count the number of registered students enrolled as of September 30, 2018. However, additional information will be gathered to include all approved but unbuilt residential subdivisions within the study area and the anticipated students to be generated from those developments.
Is redistricting for currently enrolled Oakdale High students to Gov. Thomas Johnson High is a possibility?
TJHS is not currently within the study area. Therefore, we are not considering options that would change that attendance boundary.
How is the student population being estimated here for future growth to ensure that Sugarloaf is not over capacity once the construction of the new village is complete? Is there any thought to having Sugarloaf as K-2 and Urbana as 3-5, or vice versa?
Prior to design and construction of the new Sugarloaf ES, the Board of Education considered the option of pairing the new school with either Urbana ES or Centerville ES. After considering this option, the Board chose to proceed with a school designed to accommodate grades preK-5.
As to the planning block maps that show the number of children attending schools for a particular area: can you confirm if this only shows the number of students currently enrolled in school?
Student data presented on the planning block maps count the number of registered students enrolled as of September 30, 2018. However, additional information will be gathered to include all approved but unbuilt residential subdivisions within the study area and the anticipated students to be generated from those developments.
I thought the County Council added Oakdale Middle to the Facilities Plan, and they will have additional seats added to the school. Can you please confirm if seats will be added into OMS? If so, what school year will those seats be available and how will they be considered in the redistricting process?
The County did forward design funding for the addition to Oakdale MS. We have not awarded the design contract yet, but at this point we anticipate that the addition will open in September 2022. The addition will add approximately 300 seats. The additional seats will be considered in the redistricting study as we work to balance enrollments between the schools.
Why does Thomas Johnson Middle have such a large live-out/attend-in population (320 students), especially as compared to other schools in the study area?
Only a small portion of the TJMS attendance area (the area east of the Monocacy River) is within the study area. Live-out/attend-in refers to the number of students that live outside the study area but attend the school. Because only a portion of TJMS is within the study area, this looks a little skewed for this school, but we wanted to gather data in the same way for this table. We do have information for the entire attendance area which we will use as we begin to craft options for changes to attendance boundaries so that we can determine the impact on the enrollment of the school.
As I'm sure everyone is aware, the areas affected by this study are the fastest growing in the county. I saw a lot of work was done to look at the current students in the school boundaries, but what is being done to take a look at how these new homes in particular will affect the school population?
We have mapped all the approved residential developments located within the study area. We have received information from the County and municipalities regarding total number of lots approved, lots built, lots remaining, expected buildout, etc. We are contacting developers and builders to confirm anticipated rate of buildout for each of these developments. We will apply the County’s current pupil yield rates for single family, townhouse and multi-family dwelling units that are unique to each school’s attendance area within the study area.
Are there plans for additional middle and high schools in light of the two additional elementary schools?
There are no new middle or high schools planned in the current Capital Improvement Plan for the redistricting study area. There is a 300 seat addition planned for Oakdale MS. We received the funding to begin design this year and are scheduled to have the addition open for the 2022-23 school year.
Can you post information about the current and projected (2-year and 5-year) capacities for all of the schools in the study?
You can find information about the current capacities and enrollments of the schools located within the study area on page 9 of the Background Report. The Background Report is posted on the project web page under the January: Informational Meeting heading toward the bottom of the page. Enrollment projections for the 2019 -20 school year are also included on pages 10-11. We are still updating the 10 year projections for these schools (assuming no changes to attendance boundaries) and will provide projections with proposed new attendance boundaries as those options are created. The Maryland Department of Planning (MDOP) did require all school districts to update their state-rated capacity (SRC) calculations for all schools. We have completed these calculations and submitted them to MDOP for their review and approval. Until we receive their approval, we will continue to use the current SRC for each school.
In the past daycare has been an approved out-of-district rationale. Will this still be allowed or will this “no exception” rule apply to day care? Can you please provide a guideline or policy outlining what currently is acceptable for an out-of-district day care exception?
Board of Education Regulations 400-15 and 400-78 outline the conditions by which out of district transfers are granted and conditions under which schools are restricted to out-of-district transfers. FCPS Office of Student Services reviews and processes out-of-district transfer requests. If you have additional questions, please contact Mary Ann Gomez at (240) 236-2493.
Would students that are currently in a high school be pulled out and begin going to a new high school?
In past redistricting studies, there have been instances where the Board of Education allowed rising 5th, 8th and 12th graders to finish their elementary, middle or high school education at their current school with parent transportation. In other instances, they did not. The recommendation to the Board of Education will include new attendance boundaries as well as an implementation plan. Which students, if any, will be allowed to stay at their current school and under what circumstances will be discussed as we move through the redistricting study.
Who is the consulting firm that is working on the LOU Redistricting Project?
Cropper GIS
If a high school is not on the list as being in the study area does that mean that students will not move to that school?
The only high schools that are included in this study are Linganore, Oakdale and Urbana. Students will not get redistricted to any of our other 7 high schools.
Will this redistricting affect the 2020 graduating class?
The redistricting study is expected to be completed by November 2019. The revisions to attendance boundaries will go into effect beginning in the 2020-21 school year and may be phased in over several years.
How is staff working with Frederick County to ensure that the infrastructure is able to work in the best interest and safety of our children?
FCPS works closely with Frederick County Sheriff’s department, Frederick City police and Maryland State police to resolve student pedestrian and vehicular safety concerns. Please contact the Facilities Planning Department at 301-644-5026 if you have questions or concerns regarding school traffic issues. Please contact the FCPS Transportation department if you have questions regarding bus transportation, 301-644-5366.
Does FCPS have an initial recommendation for new feeder pattern lines that they shared with Cropper GIS? Or is Cropper GIS starting the process unbiased?
CropperGIS is developing the first draft options. They will review these options with staff soon, prior to presenting them to the public for review and comment in March. CropperGIS was given Board Policy 200 as a guide to developing the options.
Will the draft plan released in March have all the school student and capacity numbers?
Yes. The draft options will provide information regarding impact on school enrollments, and include the current state rated capacity (SRC) for each school.
Will this include the expected student number changes in those school districts? Our community is rapidly growing and we have a large population bulge entering elementary school in the next two years — explicitly seeing that reflected in the plan would be good.
Yes, the draft options will include impact on current and future enrollments, and include consideration of the impact of approved residential development on the enrollment projections.
Will there be actual expected/projected numbers for residential development that the community can view for methodology and calculations?
Yes. We can provide the methodology and data that is collected and used in the enrollment calculations.
Is there a date/time set yet for the first drafts presentation in March?
The first round of options will be presented on March 18 at Linganore HS, March 19 at Urbana HS and March 21 at Oakdale HS. All meetings begin at 7 PM. The same information will be presented at all meetings.