Capacity Study

Capacity Study

Elementary school capacity study included a target capacity of 90% of the CSD MAXIMUM recommendation for classroom sizes, which also put CSD very close to the “industry standard” (Public Schools of North Carolina State Board of Education Department of Public Instruction – 2014 Facilities Guidelines.) Based on those numbers and the classroom areas (for 3-track at Parkview and Thorson, and 2-track at Westlawn), the schools are at or over capacity. 

The current building capacities and enrollments (as of October 5, 2018) of:

Parkview: 3-track capacity: 480-students  Current enrollment: 499

Thorson: 3-track capacity: 480-students  Current enrollment: 519

Westlawn: 2-track capacity: 320-students  Current enrollment: 316

Because the schools have taken-over other program areas to address the current “bubble” classes, they are temporarily accommodating the current enrollment numbers and could each actually accommodate just a few more students (as long as they were distributed ideally) within those spaces, but that is at the expense of the school being able to utilize those original program areas as they were intended for a dedicated use by the entire school.

For middle and high school, due to the mobile nature of the students for their classes, a different approach is used to determine building utilization rates. (Per the Council for Educational Facility Planners International - CEFPI) The ratio of used-to-unused dedicated classroom spaces is evaluated to determine whether school buildings are being utilized efficiently based on current class offerings and class sizes and is referred to as the “Targeted Functional Design Capacity.” The expectation is for this number to be below 100% utilization in order to allow for the realities of staffing, schedule flexibility, and educational program offerings. Higher utilization within the recommended ranges require tighter scheduling of available resources.

For the Middle School, the CEFPI Targeted Functional Design Capacity goal is 75% - 85% utilization. Evaluation of the dedicated Middle School classrooms shows that they are currently utilized 100% of the time. Based on the current utilization of dedicated classrooms, it is recommended that at least 7 additional classrooms be provided to support the current class offerings, class sizes, and staffing.

For the High School, the CEFPI Targeted Functional Design Capacity goal is 80% - 85% utilization. Evaluation of the dedicated High School classrooms shows that they are currently utilized 100% of the time. Based on the current utilization of dedicated classrooms, it is recommended that at least 6 additional classrooms be provided to support the current class offerings, class sizes, and staffing.