Students may be on Thanksgiving break from school later this week, but school will still be on the brain for many Prince George’s County families.

On Friday, letters detailing the county’s updated comprehensive boundary plan – including where some children will attend school next year– were mailed to more than 8,000 families with children enrolled in the system who will be affected by school boundary changes.

After pushback from parents over potential school closures, the school system agreed to accommodate some currently enrolled students impacted by boundary changes but wish to continue in their current schools. Changes implemented based on input from PGCPS families will now allow rising fifth and eighth grade students the option to continue in their current schools. Siblings not going into those grades will be also be permitted to stay, but for that year only. Families who choose to remain will be responsible for providing transportation to and from school. An application process will be involved; the county will provide more details on this in the new year.

Last Thursday, members of the Prince George’s County School Board voted to approve a plan proposed by PGPS Schools CEO Monica Goldson that would, among other things, delay the closure of Concord Elementary School in District Heights and Pointer Ridge Elementary School in Bowie.

Both these schools were previously slated for closure before the 2023-2024 school year. Under this plan, student populations from under-enrolled schools will be combined to reduce the number of schools needed during the fall of 2024.

Under the new plan, Fort Washington’s Potomac Landing Elementary School and Isaac J. Gourdine Middle School will close and their student bodies will combine and attend a school currently being built, the Colin L. Powell K-8 Academy, a Blueprint for Maryland’s future-funded project.

The plan, which was approved during a Board of Education meeting on Nov. 10, will create updated boundaries for six middle schools for the fall. The plan will add more prekindergarten openings and reduce the number of temporary classrooms that need to be used countywide.

“Feedback from families and staff members was essential to fine-tuning these recommendations,” Goldson said in a press release. “While there is no perfect scenario, our hope is to present a plan that positions Prince George’s County Public Schools to address enrollment changes over the long-term.”

The move comes after months of debate over redistricted boundaries and shifted school assignments. According to the county’s Comprehensive Boundary Initiative released in the spring of 2021, the second-largest public school system in the state has seen enrollment increase by between 125,000 – 136,000 students since 2014. Enrollment is expected to exceed 143,000 by 2024.

To account for this, the county proposed reassigning students who live in certain areas to other schools that are not at full capacity to balance the number of students enrolled in each school.

The report found certain schools, particularly some in the northern part of the county, are overcrowded, while others could accommodate more students.

But many families took issue with the prospect of their children moving schools, particularly in the wake of COVID-induced tumult. A group of parents gathered at Pointer Ridge Elementary School last month to protest its potential closure.

Beginning in the fall of 2020, the county began the comprehensive school boundary initiative process involving PGPS officials, the Boundary Advisory Committee, and a consulting agency called WXY Studio. The schools CEO presents boundary recommendations to the Board of Education for adoption.

The goal was to analyze existing boundaries, feeder patterns, and program locations to determine how to deal with both over-and-under-enrolled schools across the 165 district schools.

It is the school system’s first boundary review since 2008.