January 16, 2018 | Vol. 18, No. 3 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Dilemma: Cut trailers or move students?
School board vote on redistricting plan set for Jan. 16 By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
What’s more important: Eliminating portable classroom trailers or limiting boundary shifts for elementary school students and their families? That’s the dilemma the Prince
William School Board will face this week when it makes a final decision Wednesday, Jan. 16, on new boundaries for 16 eastern county elementary schools. The changes in school attendance areas are being made to relieve some of the worst elementary school overcrowding in the county. The schools
involved in the boundary shifts currently use 61 classroom trailers to provide more space. The new elementary school now under construction on Prince William Parkway will be the main source of relief for that overcrowding. More classrooms have also been added through recent additions to
Lake Ridge, Antietam, Springwoods and Minnieville elementary schools. In all, the new school construction in eastern Prince William will add 95 classrooms at a cost of about $200 million, Superintendent Steven Walts told the school board during a Jan. 10 work session. See SCHOOL BOARD, page 4
School enrollment growth slows Changes could make room for projects aimed at cutting trailers By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
The usually fast-growing Prince William school division caught a break in 2018: County schools logged the smallest number of new students since 1984. As a result, officials are now mulling changes to the schools’ future building plans to add two more elementary schools as well as several middle school additions aimed at nearly eliminating portable classroom trailers by 2028. Enrollment across the county’s 95 schools grew by only 342 students this year, or about 0.4 percent, compared to the 2017-18 school year. That’s 852 students fewer than the school division’s projections. The school division also welcomed its smallest kindergarten class since 2013 – at 6,254 students. By comparison, county schools enrolled 6,435 new kindergarten students in 2017. The reduction contributed to the second consecutive drop in overall enrollment at the elementary school level, David Cline, Prince William County schools’ now-retired associate superintendent of finance and support services told school board members during a Jan. 9 work session on proposed changes to the school division’s capital-improvement plan. The county’s middle and high schools are still
SNOW DAY SUNRISE: Prince William County woke up to between 7 and 9 inches of snow Monday morning as a result of a winter storm that began Saturday afternoon and didn’t let up until Sunday night. The federal government, county offices and schools were all closed on Monday, Jan. 14, to allow residents to dig out. Photo by Delia Engstrom. gaining students, however, albeit at a slightly lower rate. Enrollment at Prince William’s 16 middle schools was up 1.4 percent this year, while the county’s 12 high schools saw enrollment rise 1.3 percent, according to school division documents.
INSIDE Calendar.............................................14 Classified............................................17 Lifestyle..............................................11 Obituaries...........................................16
The lower numbers have prompted school division officials to reduce enrollment projections over the next 10 years. The school division now See ENROLLMENT, page 4
Opinion.................................................7 Puzzle Page..........................................6 Real Estate..........................................15 Sports...................................................9
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