City and school officials together will start evaluating and planning for upcoming facility needs.

With school enrollments projected to rise steadily and significant housing developments on the horizon, Westbrook officials will together start planning for the future at a joint workshop Monday, Aug. 17.

Superintendent of Schools Marc Gousse said Tuesday that the primary topic at the School Committee-City Council session, at the Westbrook Middle School Library starting at 6 p.m., will be “where we’ll be over the next decade,” citing enrollment figures and plans for potential building upgrades.

Gousse said he’s invited City Planner Molly Just to discuss the city’s outlook in terms of housing development, which can directly impact school enrollment.

The next building project proposed by school officials involves a renovation of Saccarappa Elementary School and an expansion of Westbrook Middle School.

During the past year, considerable residential developments have been announced, highlighted by the Blue Spruce Farm project off Spring Street, which will add more than 180 housing units.

Just said Tuesday that she’ll discuss the locations and type of developments currently proposed in the city, hoping to provide context for talks surrounding school building needs.

“If things continue as they have, what are some implications?” she said, adding that they are looking at figures from past developments to estimate the impact from future ones.

Just has worked closely with Scarborough-based Risbara Bros. Construction on the Spring Street development. Risbara is slated to start construction this year, but during the permitting process, Portland-based Planning Decisions conducted an “enrollment impact analysis” for the city.

The analysis looked at developments of similar nature in the city, based on the type of housing. However, the Blue Spruce Farm project is the largest single development in some 25 years.

Even with the large number of units, the type of housing – both condos and rental properties – affects the study’s numbers. The analysis only projects between 30-46 students to come from the development.

“The impact on the schools is quite small,” Just said.

At previous Planning Board meetings, a number of residents have disputed the numbers found in the study, showing concern for overcrowded schools.

The Risbara project calls for 80, one-bedroom rental apartments, which are not expected to affect school enrollment. The only type of housing seen as bringing in school-aged children is single-family homes.

Still, with projected growth, the school department has been eyeing the city’s aging buildings.

Dan Cecil, an architect working with the school department to draft plans for both the Saccarappa and middle school buildings, will also attend the meeting. Gousse said concept designs for both projects have been created. The middle school, although the newest in the district, was designed with a third-floor wing that was never constructed.

The school department recently announced that two portable classrooms would be added at district elementary schools to combat increased kindergarten enrollments. At a public meeting with parents in July, Gousse said the portables are a short-term solution.

Last year, the school department also enlisted Planning Decisions to conduct an enrollment study for Westbrook schools. The study looks at a variety of factors, including birth rates, population trends, housing trends, economic conditions and more.

On average, 81 new housing units have been added annually in Westbrook since 2004.

Planning Decisions projects that pre-K-12 enrollment will increase from the current figure of 2,646 students, with enrollment reaching roughly 3,100 students by 2023-24.

In the past, city and school officials have butted heads over school spending and building decisions, including the closing of Prides Corner Elementary School in 2012. Many residents have also been critical of the decision ever since enrollment numbers have risen. However, both sides have vowed to work more collaboratively, which Gousse said has strengthened relationships.

It was estimated that Prides Corner needed some $2 million in renovations, including heavy mold abatement, and school officials have stood by the decision to close the school. It is now a construction site for a condominium project.

“That’s a central piece to this workshop,” Gousse said, referring to discussing both the impact of closing Prides Corner and looking at other aging facilities.

Saccarappa Elementary School, which has seen growth in its kindergarten classes, will receive an additional portable classroom this year. The school’s space issues have been discussed at length by department officials, including the so-called “cafegymitorium” space, where most students get their lunch but then return to their homeroom classroom to eat.

Gousse said following the workshop, he’s hoping some recommendations will be made by the school department for building projects. Gousse said he’d like the process to mirror the city’s path toward its new Public Services facility, with workshops held to come up with a plan and monetary figure that can be agreed on.

“My goal would be to put a formal proposal together to be able to advance to the School Committee, the City Council, and eventually the voters for a project in the near term,” he said.

Any such project would be local taxpayer funded. Realistically, he said, he’d like to see a referendum on the November 2016 ballot.

Westbrook school officials have said additional portable classrooms, like this one outside Saccarappa Elementary School, are a short-term solution to increased enrollments in the district. On Monday, city and school officials will discuss long-term building needs. File photo