An eight-member committee of Fort Meade parents joined Anne Arundel County school officials Tuesday in taking preliminary steps toward redistricting four elementary schools on the Army installation.
With construction of the new Pershing Elementary School creating additional classroom space, officials are looking at ways to alleviate crowding at two of the three other elementary schools — Manor View, Meade Heights and West Meade.
On Tuesday, the committee outlined protocol for the public meetings to other local residents at Meade Heights Elementary School. The meetings are slated to be held each Tuesday in October.
The group listened to an hourlong presentation by Chuck Yocum, the school system's specialist in student demographic planning, who showed that Pershing Hill Elementary is expected to be at 26 percent student capacity over the next five years. The new school, which is slated to open next school year, is being constructed for a capacity of 733.
By contrast, Manor View Elementary currently has 605 students, slightly above its capacity of 549, and it is expected to enroll 778 by 2015. West Meade currently has 385 students, well above its capacity of 177, and it is expected to seat 383 students by 2015.
Meade Heights currently has 283 students, well below its capacity of 514, and it is expected to remain at no more than 65 percent capacity by 2015.
The figures take into account the influx of families expected to arrive at Fort Meade because of the Base Realignment and Closure measures.
Among the three options county school officials proposed:
•Close West Meade Elementary and move its students to Pershing Hill Elementary.
•Turn West Meade into an early childhood center for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and early childhood intervention students from Manor View, Pershing Hill and West Meade. West Meade's students in grades one to five would be redistricted to Pershing Hill, where it, as well as Manor View, would become grade one to five schools.
•Opt for the early childhood center for West Meade but redistrict additional students out of Manor View.
The committee is expected to make a decision on redistricting later this fall, then submit its proposal to county schools Superintendent Kevin Maxwell, who will forward his recommendations to the county school board in December.
The board will take the superintendent's recommendations into consideration and make a decision in April.
Fort Meade resident and committee member Heather Shaw said she is familiar with sending her three children to overcrowded schools on Fort Meade, having lived there for nine years. She said that in listening to the proposals, she was encouraged that redistricting might best serve the students in the long run.
"We're looking at what will be best for the children, and not so much the people," said Shaw.
Fort Meade resident Amy Morgan, who has a special-needs child, wondered how the redistricting would affect those children.
"When you're talking about [placing] 700 bodies into a building, how many of those are going to be special needs, and is it congruent to learning if you have too many children," she said. "I'm concerned that my child will be left behind and won't get the resources he needs because there are so many other kids to service."
joseph.burris@baltsun.com