GROWTH AREAS While the concept of “Smart Growth” is valuable for overall community development, its impact on school development is somewhat restrictive for WCPS in relation to current local growth patterns. Smart Growth encourages development within designated growth areas that are supported by water and sewer infrastructure. It also prioritizes the renovation of existing schools in existing neighborhoods over new schools. Of the twenty four (24) public school facilities located in Wicomico County, ten (10) are operating “over” capacity (see 4.2 Growth & School Facility Status). This does not include our Early Learning Transitions (ELT) program or Choices (Alternative Learning Center). These specific programs operate in separate facilities. WCPS schools can be viewed as serving specific geographic areas or county designated quadrants. Although these quadrants are not specifically representative of actual attendance areas, since some of our tracks cross over these geographic areas, they are a starting point to see how WCPS capacity relates to these geographic locations (see Figure 7 – red indicates over capacity, green indicates at capacity and black indicates under capacity). Looking at these quadrants in more detail it is apparent that all quadrants have at least a quarter of their schools “over” capacity (See Figure 7). The majority of WCPS schools are located within a Priority Funding Area (PFA) as shown in 4.3 & 4.4 following this section. Priority Funding Areas are locations where the State and local governments want to target their efforts to encourage and support economic development and new growth. This becomes even more critical due to recent changes implemented by the Maryland Public School Construction Program specifically noting that the “Location of a new school or a replacement school that adds capacity be within a Priority Funding Area”. Also required is a Priority Funding Area review by the Maryland Department of Planning. Chipman ES Salisbury MS N. Salisbury ES Delmar ES W. Salisbury ES Willards ES Pittsville ES & MS Glen Ave ES E. Salisbury ES Beaver Run ES Parkside HS Wicomico MS Fruitland Primary Fruitland Interm. Prince Street ES Pinehurst ES Wicomico HS Westside Primary Westside Interm. Bennett MS Pemberton ES J.M. Bennett HS Mardela MS & HS Northwestern ES Figure 7 111
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