Annual School Test will guide school adequacy reviews and Utilization Premium Payments for the fiscal year starting July 1
WHEATON, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Board , part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) , certified the fiscal year 2026 Annual School Test results and accepted the accompanying School Utilization Report at their June 26 meeting, in accordance with the 2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy (GIP). The Annual School Test evaluates the projected utilization level of the county’s K-12 public school facilities in comparison to county standards and places service areas of schools projected to be overutilized in Utilization Premium Payment tiers for the duration of the fiscal year.
View the June 26 Planning Board staff report
View the FY2026 Annual School Test results
View the FY2026 School Utilization Report
The Planning Board was briefed on the following:
Certification of the FY2026 Annual School Test
In accordance with the GIP, the Annual School Test evaluates the projected utilization of each individual Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) facility for four years later, the 2029-2030 school year for the FY 2026 test. If a school is expected to exceed certain utilization level thresholds, its school service area is placed in a Utilization Premium Payment (UPP) tier. There are three different tiers—Tier 1 for moderate overutilization, Tier 2 for intermediate, and Tier 3 for the highest overutilization—with corresponding payment rates. Payments are paid by residential developers, as applicable, in addition to the school impact tax.
In addition to the UPP Tier placement, the Annual School Test also determines the adequacy ceiling for subsequent tiers of each school service area. If a development application is estimated to generate students in excess of the adequacy ceiling at any school, then the payment factor is upward adjusted in proportion to the number of students counted toward each payment tier.
Montgomery Planning staff prepared the FY2026 Annual School Test results, which were certified by the Planning Board to take effect on July 1, 2025, in accordance with the Annual School Test Guidelines v2.0 adopted by the Planning Board on December 19, 2024.
FY2026 Annual School Test and Utilization Report
The Annual School Test (AST) evaluates the adequacy of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) facilities to determine the appropriate conditions of approval during the development review process throughout the fiscal year. Each individual MCPS school is evaluated by its projected utilization rate and seat deficit for four school years in the future, using the adequacy standards set by the 2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy (GIP). The following schools will be assessed a UPP by default as a condition of approval during FY 2026.
Tier 1 UPP placement:
- North Bethesda MS
- Arcola ES
- Ashburton ES
- Bethesda ES
- Cashell ES
- Farmland ES
- Lake Seneca ES
- Poolesville ES
Tier 2 UPP placement:
- Burning Tree ES
Tier 3 UPP placement:
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- James Hubert Blake HS
- Mill Creek Towne ES
The GIP also requires Montgomery Planning to prepare a School Utilization Report to accompany the Annual School Test. The report consists of a countywide report and individual school reports that together provide supplemental information about MCPS facilities. The latest projections from MCPS indicate that countywide, there will be over 2,000 surplus seats available at the high school level, over 3,800 surplus seats available at the middle school level, and over 10,000 surplus seats available at the elementary school level at the end of the six-year CIP cycle (2030-2031 school year). A snapshot of 2024 housing data is also provided in the School Utilization Report, which includes single-family home sales, housing development, and total residential dwelling units by school service area.
FY2026-2027 Student Generation Rates
FY2026-2027 Student Generation Rates are dropping across most housing types compared to the updated FY2025rates, except for Turnover multifamily units. FY2026-2027 School Impact Tax rates will still increase due to an increase in elementary school construction cost, but will be capped at 20% for all impact areas and housing types.
MCPS’s Initial Boundary Study Options
MCPS has released initial options for the new high school and middle school service areas as part of the boundary studies for Crown and Woodward High Schools. At the June 26 Planning Board meeting, Montgomery Planning staff briefed the Planning Board on the options for Woodward and how they would affect utilization rates versus the no boundary change option. Planning staff found that the options would mostly improve the utilization rate imbalance between high schools and middle schools compared to a scenario where no boundaries are changed, but two of the options would leave Wheaton High School overutilized at a level that would require UPPs.
About the Growth and Infrastructure Policy
The Growth and Infrastructure Policy ensures that infrastructure is adequate to support growth. It includes criteria and guidance for the administration of Montgomery County’s Adequate Public Facility Ordinance (APFO), which matches the timing of private development with the availability of public infrastructure. Every four years, an effort to update the Growth and Infrastructure Policy originates with Montgomery Planning before working its way through the Planning Board and the Montgomery County Council for final approval. The purpose is to ensure that the best available tools are used to test whether infrastructure like schools, transportation, water, and sewer services can support future growth.
For updates and link to press release, see here: https://montgomeryplanning.org/?p=63579