Parents raise concerns following construction of new Montgomery County high school meant to alleviate overcrowding

GERMANTOWN, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - With Montgomery County halfway into the new school year, classrooms in some of its high schools are getting more and more crowded.

By this time next year, a brand new state-of-the-art Seneca Valley High School in Germantown could help alleviate that problem. The new school will be the largest high school in Maryland. 

According to a county school district memo, student enrollment at schools like “Clarksburg High School continues to grow and will exceed capacity by more than 800 students by the end of the six-year planning period. Although two additions were constructed in 2001 and 2006 at Northwest High School to accommodate growth at the school, student enrollment continued to increase, and projections indicate that student enrollment will exceed capacity by approximately 700 students by the end of the six-year planning period.”

In a statement to FOX 5 Wednesday, the district explained that: “As part of the revitalization/expansion project, the capacity at Seneca Valley High School is being expanded to accommodate additional students from these high schools. In addition, students who attend Seneca Valley High School will have access to new, rigorous and engaging career readiness programs that will prepare them for the demands of our global economy.  Slated to open September 2020, Seneca Valley High School is a model for schools of the future.”

That’s not enough of a selling point for mom of 12-year-old twins Luisa Passa who said that she would much rather send her kids to CHS.

“It’s too far me,” Passas said. “I don’t want my kids to be on the bus or in a car for so long.”

Jeffrey Koenig’s daughter is very young but the dad in Germantown also wants to send her to Clarksburg in the future because he said he isn’t convinced SVHS would be a good fit.

“The ratings aren’t quite as good,” Koenig said. “so we are a little concerned about that.”

Koenig said that he is also worried about the value of his property.

“If the values go down then we could get more possible renters or people that you know, don’t care as much about the area and crime could go up,” he said.

While neither parent knows yet whether they are in or out of the school’s current boundaries, Passa said she knows CHS would be a better choice.

“I would have to do a lot of paperwork and prove that my kids need to be in this school,” she said.

The district also said that parents will have seven boundary options that will take into consideration geographic proximity, demographic makeup of the student population, traffic and transportation patterns and efficient facility utilization.

The Board of Education will make a decision about boundaries in late November 2019.