Boundary Discussions (Current and Previous Years)

Question

Answer

Are all addresses moving from Buck Lodge to MLK those that were added to Buck Lodge in 2023?

In 2023, with the opening of the new Sonia Sotomayor Middle School, there were boundary changes that impacted Martin L King Jr. Middle School, Buck Lodge Middle School, and Nicholas Orem Middle School. At that time there was a reassignment of Calverton Elementary to Martin L King Jr. Middle School for middle school before 2023 and in 2023 all of Calverton Elementary was reassigned to Buck Lodge Middle School and what we found was that o we overdid it (we were projecting during COVID). We assigned too many by assigning all of Calve to Buck Lodge Middle School and they are now over-utilized. Now we are reassigning about 50% of Calverton Elementary to Martin L King Jr. Middle School and 50% to Buck Lodge Middle School. We try to avoid split feeders for elementary to middle and that’s what we were aiming for with the assignment to Buck Lodge Middle School but now the imbalance needs to be addressed.

Este cambio sería para el siguiente año  escolar y si proveerán transporte   a los alumnos ?

This change would be for the next school year and will they provide transportation to the students?

Yes and yes. The change is for the 2026-2027 school year so 5th graders currently attending Calverton Elementary School and Beltsville Academy that are impacted by this will go to 6th grade at Martin L King Jr. Middle School and then also 4th and 7th graders currently at Beltsville Academy will have the option to stay at their current school for their final year. We will send parents information on how to select that option. If the BOE approves this option, transportation will be provided to the new school. If the student opts to remain at the current school transportation will be provided by the parent.

Why is there not also a minor boundary change for Hyattsville Middle that is now 200+ overcrowded since 2023 and has classroom utilization impacts such as on the Creative and Performing Arts program?  I thought there was a similar issue when the William Wirt MS boundary was added to Hyattsville Middle.

When the new Hyattsville Middle School building opened in school year 2023-2024, there were more students enrolled than we projected them to have, so there are some utilization challenges there as well. The opportunity we have there is more limited because the adjacent schools are also overenrolled or over 100% utilized so we don’t have the same opportunity with Martin L King Jr. Middle being underenrolled. However we do have the new Robert Frost K-8 School opening in school year 27-28 and we will revisit Hyattsville MS overenrollment issues then. This school will combine Robert Frost Elementary, Carrollton Elementary, and Charles Carroll Middle Schools into a single 2000-seat campus in the New Carrollton area.

How does this addition of students affect the current students and class sizes at MLK?

Martin L King Jr. Middle is proposed to receive an additional 175 students. The budget is developed and governed under student based budgeting (SBB) which means the money follows the student so our overenrolled schools will lose some funding next school year and Martin L King Jr. Middle will gain that funding which will include staff members and instructional support to meet the needs of the students. The district will review staffing needs based on student population within the building resulting in a positive impact on Martin L King Jr. Middle School’s staffing and electives. 

How are we ensuring that services provided to students at Beltsville Academy will be maintained? Aside from funding, has there been an assessment of these services? This may be a question for Principal Lowe as well.

The services are specific to the children, whatever services the children require are provided at Vansville Elementary and Martin L King Jr. Middle Schools just as they would be provided by Beltsville Academy. We do have a regional program for Autism at Beltsville Academy, those students will not be moving because Vansville Elementary School’s current attendance area already sends their students to Beltsville for service. Those students will not be affected by this update. English language services and intervention services will be provided at all affected schools.

Los mapas de color rojo que significan?

What do the red maps mean?

Maps and affected street addresses: 

Buck Lodge MS to Martin Luther King, Jr. MS

Beltsville Academy to Vansville ES and Martin Luther King, Jr MS

The areas in red represent the areas impacted by the proposed change and the red dots are all of the houses, all the dwellings impacted by the proposed change. We encourage you to use School Finder to verify if the change will affect your students.

Buenas noches con todos tengo una niña en segundo grado que está feliz en su escuela Beltsville Academy, ella participa del programa ELO, quería saber si en la otra escuela tendrá programas extra, gracias.

Good evening everyone. I have a daughter in second grade who is happy at her school, Beltsville Academy. She participates in the ELO program. I wanted to know if the other school will have any extra programs. Thank you.

*ELO is Extended Learning Opportunities, an after-school program offered at Beltsville Academy through Title I. 

Vansville Elementary offers a comparable before/after school program through YMCA Programs.

What are the other options if this proposal is not selected? Is there a list of the options? Also, what is the deciding factor and when should we expect this decision to be made?

If this proposal is not approved, Beltsville Academy and Buck Lodge Middle Schools would remain overenrolled and they are two of our most overenrolled schools in the county. 

There is a new school being built that will open in 2028, James Duckworth Elementary School which is located near Calverton Elementary School. There is an opportunity here when the school opens to create an attendance area for this school. If Beltsville Academy remains overenrolled could contribute to the attendance area of the new school because it is nearby.

Can we make Beltsville Academy larger? We don’t have an expansion scheduled for Beltsville, the boundary change is a way to address the overenrollment now rather than waiting for James Duckworth Elementary to come online or until Beltsville Academy is renovated.

The deciding factor is the overutilization of Beltsville Academy and Buck Lodge Middle Schools. We can’t place any more portables at Beltsville Academy, it is maxed out, there are at least 15 currently in place. Per Operations, due to power and real estate we can’t put additional portables there.

March 3rd - the Board of Education will hold a Public Hearing on this proposal

March 26th - the Board of Education will vote on this proposed adjustment

The Planning Team is in the initial stages of the master planning process (updating the Educational Facilities Master Plan) which is a one year to one and a half year process including building assessments.

If this proposal is selected, Is there a plan to increase staffing levels at MLK to ensure that class sizes are not impacted?

Principals will work closely with HR regarding possible reassignment of staffing through the SBB process. May include hiring new teachers or transferring staff between locations.