The High School Utilization Report conducted in 2003 by DeJong Inc. for the Baltimore County Board of Education was recently revisited and, according to county spokesman Don Mohler, “all of the data the school board has been reviewing to date does not indicate the need for a new school.”

Mohler said school system statistics for the northeast area show that there are at least 216 high school seats available and that three of five high schools

are underenrolled.

He added that in accordance with Board of Education projections for 2012, there will be 308 seats available and that three out of five high schools will still be underenrolled.

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But David Marks, president of the Perry Hall Improvement Association, where 1,600 residents recently signed a petition in favor of constructing a new high school, said the DeJong report does not take into consideration the effect of the Base Realignment and Closure initiatives.

“They are correct in saying that some schools are not overcrowded, as the report overestimates,” Marks said. “But DeJong never accounted for BRAC, which we think will be a major source of overcrowding.”

Some estimates show Baltimore County population growing 14,000 by 2017 from BRAC alone.

An analysis of the Board of Education’s enrollment projections and the DeJong Report indicates that when DeJong’s projections are compared with actual high school enrollment data in 2007, there are several discrepancies.

They include DeJong’s projection five years ago that in 2007 Perry Hall High School would be 342 students over capacity.

However, enrollment reported by the school system for Perry Hall in 2007 shows it was just 211 students over capacity.

DeJong also projected that in 2007 Towson High School would be 237 students over capacity, when enrollment reported by the school system for Towson showed it to be 182 students over capacity.

Enrollment projections were also overestimated for Loch Raven High School, where plans were recently scrapped for a 400-seat addition.

Marks said a new high school needs to be made now to relieve future overcrowding at four county high schools, include Perry Hall and Towson.

drowley@baltimoreexaminer.com