Alamance County voters approved a $150 million bond package for the Alamance-Burlington school system in November 2018, but both overall enrollment in the school system and the capacity of its school buildings, have declined since then. Enrollment is down 517 students compared to the 2018-2019 school year. And the number of available seats, i.e., “capacity,” has declined at 20 out of 33 schools, excluding the new high school that opened in 2023.
One of the few schools where capacity has actually increased, Garrett Elementary in Mebane, has the tightest proportion of enrollment to capacity – 786 students in a building now listed as accommodating 722.
The school system’s high school capacity, where most of the bond funds were targeted (including $67 million to build Southeast), has been increased by 1,041 students. But the capacity at elementary schools has shrunk by a similar amount, 1,119 students, even though two of those schools got infusions for expansions: Pleasant Grove’s capacity was increased by 31 and South Mebane’s by 95. But capacity at other schools has declined, in some cases dramatically. South Graham’s capacity has been reduced by 288, students, Newlin Elementary by 165, Grove Park by 144…