According to the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) system, in 2016-2017 school year, 161,936 students attended MCPS—an all time high.

Since 2007, there has been an increase of over 21,000 students attending MCPS. The average growth rate is nearly 3,000 students per year but there is not enough space to hold all of them.

Student enrollment currently exceeds the available capacity by 136 percent. If this growth rate is maintained, MCPS predicts that by 2022 the enrollment will be 161 percent over available capacity.

Students like freshman Julia Craig were startled by this fact. “The fact that I have never heard about this is even more surprising,” Craig said.

Overcrowding in Richard Montgomery is a major issue as the school attracts many families. Right now, Richard Montgomery is slightly over capacity. However, by 2021, the student population is projected to be nearly 300 seats over capacity.

While overcrowding in schools is not a new issue, it certainly has increased in MCPS in recent years.

Freshman Melody Cheng believes that this is due to the vast resources the community holds. “[It’s] similar to why the U.S. is the top choice for immigrants seeking job opportunities overseas. MCPS offers a vast variety of schools, each housing unique courses and programs. The abundance of resources in MCPS recounts its growing appeal to many families just moving into the area,” said Cheng.

Sophomore Carissa Lin coincided that proper education plays a factor in overcrowding. “A lot of people want to go to the IB schools in Montgomery county because they are good. This may lead them to move or drive their child to school an hour and a half just to go to an IB school,” said Lin.

Many students, including Cheng, view overcrowding as a visible problem, especially in the crowded halls. “The decreased ratio of teacher to student can hinder an individual’s performance in class due to the lack of attention to each student’s needs,” said Cheng.

In fact, this change is noticeable in Richard Montgomery. According to U.S. News, in the 2016-2017 school year, the student-teacher ratio was approximately 18 students per teacher. In the 2006-2007 school year, it was 16 students for each teacher.

Yet, other students noted that overcrowding can have some positive effects. Freshman Lydia Daniels pointed out the increase of diversity as a result of overcrowding. “It is extremely important to expose kids to diversity, kids with different backgrounds races and religions which big schools, which often happen to be overcrowded, oftentimes have,” Daniels said.

While some students simply do not see diversity as an effect at all, others do not see the diversity that comes with overcrowding as beneficial. “Increasing diversity is to widen the scope of cultures and backgrounds present in an area. Overcrowding merely pushes these potential advantages to the breaking point until it ultimately detracts from its original intent,” Cheng said.

In the past years, there has been an increase of diversity in the Richard Montgomery community. As published on U.S. News, the total student minority enrollment at Richard Montgomery is 70 percent. In the 2006-2007 school year, it was at 55 percent.

However, students note that overcrowding is a problem that can easily be fixed, especially in a county with plenty of open land.

While Cheng asserts that there is no perfect solution, but only different approaches.

“Increasing the members of staff available, which would increase job opportunities, and find other means to increase physical space, such as portables [are some approaches that can be taken]. However [these ideas] should be a temporary fix to this issue. The last resort is to transfer students to other schools in order to equalize the school population in the county” Cheng said.

MCPS has instituted few of the solutions suggested by some of the students. For instance, Richard Montgomery was renovated and extended in 2007.

Overcrowding is a matter that needs to be handled deliberately. Daniels said, “This needs to be a carefully regarded but seriously taken situation. Every child’s education matters!”