Area schools get a lesson in addition -- and subtraction

Read the full story here. School enrollment is up nationwide. When the school bell rings next month, some districts are bracing for class sizes as high as 44 students.

The American Association of School Administrators reports 44 percent of school districts expect to push up the size of their classes.

An AASA survey finds the percentage of school administrators who don't expect to get the money the need are similar in Maryland and Virginia.

Half of the school administrators in Maryland's region described their economic situation as "inadequately funded." Forty six percent of administrators in Virginia's region said the same.

School districts in Loudon and Prince William counties are bracing for dramatic bumps in enrollment. Prince William expects 2,047 new students, and Loudon's student increase will be 3,655 more than last year, according to projections by the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

The squeeze in Montgomery County is coming from two directions. Bruce Crispell, Montgomery's director of long-range planning, says more families with children are moving into the county's less affluent regions. He tells The Examiner that in some cases, two families are sharing one home.

But wealthier sections of the county are also being stressed, as parents stop paying tuition to private schools and send their children to public schools in Bethesda and Chevy Chase.

New state law mandating all-day kindergarten classes is also complicating things in Montgomery and other Maryland counties.

This fall, many classes will be held in portable trailers. The Examiner reporters at least 68 will be rolled onto campuses, up from 53 last year.