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"Instead of just looking at where there is over- and undercrowding, we need to have a more comprehensive discussion about the improvement of our schools," Superintendent William Hite Jr. said at a Jan. 21 school board meeting in Upper Marlboro.

The proposal — focused on high school boundaries — is the third and final phase of a countywide review intended to level out enrollment. In the first and second phases, elementary and middle schools were reviewed and adjusted, and some schools were shuttered.

Hite believes there is an opportunity to also focus on evening out education programs and curriculum rigor in the final phase of school boundary changes.

In Hite's plan, the county would be split into five areas, with each area offering International Baccalaureate, science and technology programs and career and technical education programs, Hite said. There would also be one visual and performing arts, world languages and non-traditional high school alternative program in the northern and southern part of the county.

Hite said program availability is closely connected with enrollment at county high schools.

"If we just look at where we have seats available, it really is consistent with the performance of the school," Hite said. "We have a lot of seats available but it's really where students do not want to go."

School board members, who have long been pulling for improved program accessibility, praised Hite's plan but said they were concerned with the financial impact.

"This goes above and beyond the initial idea of phase three, which was to level enrollment and eliminate overcrowding," school board vice chairman Ron Watson said, adding that he was concerned the budget could not handle the improvements.

Next year's budget, estimated at $1.64 billion, is already $70 million less than the current budget, and Hite has warned of potential program cuts and layoffs.

However Hite said, the realignment plan would be redistributing resources and would not require additional funding.

With 40,000 high school students in the county and roughly $12,000 spent per student per school year, Hite said the process will allow the school system to redistribute $480 million.

Watson and school board chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs (At-large) asked Hite to provide a detailed budget for his proposal at an upcoming meeting.

"I am very much interested to know what the final bill for this would be and how we roll it out," Watson said. "But, we don't need to waste a lot of time and money on something the school system cannot absorb."

The first of four community forums to discuss high school boundaries will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Forestville Military Academy, 7001 Beltz Drive, Forestville, and Hite said the meeting will be used to gauge community interest in specialty programs to see what programs might be needed in different areas in the county.

E-mail Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.