Design
Capacity is a formula to determine the number of students that can be
accommodated in a school. For example, in states like Maryland, Kindergarten
classrooms have a design capacity of 22 pupils and 23 for Grade 1 to 5
students. In North Carolina, the focus is on class size; state policy calls for
no more than 17 second or third grade students per teacher.
The
Education Commission of the 50 States provides
state-by-state comparisons of teacher-student ratios and other school
variables. For grading a plan purposes, reference will be made to either
the enrollment-capacity ratio or the teacher-student ratio as Percent Utilization.
Exceeding
100% Utilization is Overcrowding
Your
School Plan shows present and future Percent
Utilization of all public schools.
While exceeding the ratios by a few percentage points does not
necessarily mean that education quality will decline, a continued rise in
overcrowding can only make it more likely.
A
New Plan for Your Area if your current plan is about to expire or rates poorly based on the Quality of Life Growth Management
system, we can assist you in carrying out the outlined steps and/or conduct a community workshop and assist you in
formulating a planning strategy for
your community.
School
Overcrowding Solutions options include existing school buildings expansion, new school
construction, magnet programs and incentives to attract students to schools with
excess capacity. More extreme solutions include temporary portable classrooms, a moratorium on adding students to already
excessively crowded schools and redistricting.
Suggested
Criteria student enrollment as a percent of school capacity; or teacher-student
ratios that compare with established standards or regional and statewide norms.
Frequently
Asked Questions does your plan
have
criteria for assessing the impact of past and anticipated
growth;
current percent utilization for each public
school in the planning area;
anticipated growth percent utilization for each
school.
For schools projecting greater than 100 percent
utilization, what are your recommendations for resolving overcrowding backed by
the research confirming the effectiveness of each action.
A
Quality of Life factor of 5 or A is scored if all your public schools are at or below
100 percent utilization presently and with anticipated growth.
Connect with Tema
for
School Planning Solutions in Your Community
Local
Knowledge – Global Reach
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