Trenum says Empty Seats at Local High Schools Will Be Filled in Coming Years

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Prince William County Schools (PWCS) recently released its 2013-14 attendance numbers for their schools, which has raised some eyebrows in the community. While many high schools are overcrowded, causing students to attend classes in trailers or learning cottages, others are operating under capacity.

Attendance Inequity

“PWCS has enough high school seats, but they are not using 1,530 of them. This is not an addition error; students sit in trailers because there are 1,530 empty seats in our high schools,” wrote Tracy Conroy, an administrator of the Our Schools page on the Bristow Beat Facebook.

Bristow Beat found that 1,532 seats are going unoccupied at five Prince William County high schools: Brentsville, Freedom, Gar-field, Potomac and Stonewall Jackson.

While there are extra seats at those schools, the high occupancy schools- Battlefield, Forest Park, Hylton, Osbourn Park, Patriot and Woodbridge- are currently short 2,053 seats. Of those schools, Patriot is the most overcrowded with 561 extra students, while Woodbridge is the least overcrowded with just 114 students over its capacity.

If 2,053 students currently being educated in overcapacity schools were to be moved to under occupied schools, they could occupy those 1,532 seats and thus only 521 more seats would be needed. This means PWCS could reduce the number of trailers at its high schools by nearly 75 percent.

Populations are Growing at Under Capacity Schools 

Brentsville School Board Member Gil Trenum cautioned citizens when interpreting this data to not simply look at the overall numbers, but to also consider that at under capacity schools the freshman classes are significantly larger than the senior classes. This trend means that within a few years, under capacity schools should be operating at capacity.

"Look at the freshman classes," Trenum said, explaining that after a boundary shift, “it’s takes a few years for those years to populate throughout.”

Trenum explained that Brentsville populations may look decimated, but that is mainly because most students who have been redistricted to Brentsville have been allowed to stay at Osbourn Park. However, once those students graduate, Trenum said populations between schools should even out significantly. While Brentsville's 12th grade population is just 163, its ninth grade population is 311: evidence that students will soon occupy the empty seats there.

Trenum explained that similar rebalancing acts are occurring on the other side of the county. The new addition at Potomac High School allowed that school to quickly became underpopulated.* However, regionally, many students will finish their high school careers at Forest Park High School. Potomac's numbers show that its senior class has only 400 students, its freshman class has 512 students, meaning that school's population is growing.

Populations Continue to Grow at Overcapacity Schools 

However, the reverse of this trend is not true. While under capacity schools are seeing a rise in their populations, unfortunately, so are overcapacity schools. Attendance data shows that overcrowded Patriot High School's population is on the rise. While the senior class includes 522 members, the freshman class has 698. Meanwhile, the student population at Battlefield High School has remained steady at around 595 for three years, but the population is beginning to spike with a freshman class of 678.

Although this may look dismal, the School Board is not denying that there is overcrowding at local high schools, and Trenum as well as Gainesville School Board member Alyson Satterwhite support the 13th high school to open after the 12th. Although both School Board members tried switch the opening dates of the 12th and 13th high schools, Trenum said at a recent community meeting that it the majority of school board members did not view that favorably.

* Bristow Beat previously wrote that Potomac High School had been over its capacity at the time of the addition. It has since been brought to our attention that this may be incorrect. As a result, we contacted Potomac High School's Principal, Michael Wright. Wright, said he entered into his position as principal in the 2012-13 school year, so he does not know the capacity numbers; however, he provided this statement: "I know that the addition was needed to relieve over crowding at other schools (Forest Park) on the east end.  There was also expected growth from new developments in the Potomac High School zone." 

Tomorrow, citizens weigh in on what can be done to reduce student populations in overcrowded schools. 

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