PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — A report created by Calvert County’s Planning and Zoning team shows that nearly all Calvert County schools are operating under capacity. The exceptions are Northern Middle School and Mt. Harmony Elementary School, which are at 104.7% and 101.6%, respectively.
Planning and Zoning put the report together as part of Adequate Public Facilities (APF) planning, which is a growth management tool to help regulate new residents and ensure there are enough public services to serve them. According to the code, schools shall be considered adequate if the enrollment for each public school serving the development is less than 100% of the local-rated capacity. The reports are issued April 1 and Nov. 1 of each year and then presented to the Planning Commission to guide decisions.
Of the other 11 elementary schools in the county, one — Plum Point Elementary — is between 90% and 99.9% capacity. All other elementary schools are below 90% capacity. Besides Northern Middle, all other middle schools are below 90% capacity, and only one high school — Northern High — is over 90% capacity. The rest are below 90%.
The memo from Planning and Zoning also suggests that the increases at Mt. Harmony Elementary and Northern Middle School were due to students transferring from one school to another within the district, rather than new arrivals. Construction of the new Northern Middle School is underway, and once completed, planners expect that the school will operate under capacity as well.
Chesapeake Beach and North Beach have their own zoning codes and are not included in the county APF requirements.
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