SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Parkland School District recently addressed elementary school overcrowding by building a new school.
Now, the district is looking into measures to address potential overcrowding in its high school and middle schools.
- Parkland School District's middle and high schools are projected to exceed capacity within the next five years
- Superintendent Mark Madson said ‘reaching capacity’ does not mean students will not be able to enroll, but said that the district needs to take steps to address projected trends
- The district commissioned a feasibility study to analyze these trends and present recommendations for future actions to the board
Current projections show Parkland High School could exceed capacity by 2025, according to data presented by Superintendent Mark Madson at Tuesday's School Board meeting.
The district's middle schools also are projected to exceed capacity in coming years: Orefield Middle School in 2028 and Springhouse Middle School in 2027, before its enrollment is projected to drop.
The district as a whole is projected to almost reach its capacity in 2030, with a projected student population of 11,335, compared with its capacity of 11,454.
“You might think, ‘That's several years out,’” Madson said. “Well, anything that we would do is going to take several years to plan."
“If we do nothing, if we make no changes whatsoever over the course of that period of time, we project that we'll be really close to what we consider to be our capacity.”
Madson said "reaching capacity" does not mean students won't be able to enroll in the district, and the projections are estimates that could change.
But he said in an interview that previous projections have been “pretty close” to actual enrollment numbers.
How projections are calculated
According to Madson’s presentation, the district uses software that calculates the projected student populations based on township data that outlines building plans across the district.
There have been many proposed housing developments in the Parkland area, such as Sunset Orchards in Upper Macungie Township and the controversial mixed-use development Ridge Farms in South Whitehall Township.
Madson said school capacity is determined by the square footage of the school buildings, among other factors.
Potential paths forward
The district administration and school board initiated a feasibility study, called Vision 2030, with RLPS Architects to analyze enrollment projections and the capacity of existing facilities.
“The goal is to really be thoughtful and deliberate in how we approach this, because it's a really complex problem."Mark Madson, superintendent of the Parkland School District
Madson said the district may need to look into programming changes, building additions to current schools or building new schools.
“The goal is to really be thoughtful and deliberate in how we approach this, because it's a really complex problem,” Madson said. “But it's a great chance for us as a district to really put some things together.”
Madson said in an interview that the recommendations from the feasibility study likely will be available by the end of the summer.
The district previously conducted a feasibility study in 2015. The study indicated there was a need to address elementary overcrowding, so the district built Veterans Memorial Elementary School.
As part of the study, the district is distributing a survey to community members, which will be open until April 10.
