Utilization is a measurement of how full a facility is to meet educational programmatic needs. Utilization is calculated as the number of enrolled students over the programmatic capacity of the school facility. School districts providing neighborhood schools (or "schools of right") often aim for optimal utilization of between 80% to 95%. Citywide schools (or schools accessed exclusively through the common lottery) aim for closer to 100%.
In SY2025-26, the utilization of public school facilities was 76%, which is approximately the same compared to the prior year (a 1 percentage point decrease). Similarily by sector, DCPS decreased from 75% to 74% and public charter schools remained the same at 79% (which includes schools that have not enrolled their full intended grade spans). Scroll down to view by ward and other geographies.
Public School Facility Utilization, SY2013-14 to SY2025-26
Users can select four different geographies - ward, DCPS high school boundaries, Comprehensive Plan planning areas, and neighborhood clusters - to view public school facility utilization. In SY2025-26, Ward 3 had the highest utilization of public school facilities (93%), which has been effectively managed recently due to capital investments, and Ward 4 had the second highest utilization of public school facilities (88%). Ward 8 has the lowest utilization of public school facilities at 64%.
Utilization of Public School Facilities by Varying Geographies, SY2013-14 to SY2025-26
Notes: - Schools that are growing (i.e. growing a grade each year) can be excluded from the analysis, since it may not provide an accurate representation of their facility utilization. - The methodology to collect capacities for DCPS schools was revised for the Master Facilities Plan 2023 and may not be directly compariable to data before SY2022-23. See the Master Facilities Plan 2023 for more information. - See the downloadable data file notes to learn how programmatic capacities for public charter schools and DCPS capacities before SY2022-23 are disaggregated across grade bands. - Capacities and utilization for public charter schools in SY2021-22 may not be directly comparable to capacity in previous years. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some public charter LEAs may have reported a lower capacity for their facilities that was in line with social distancing guidelines. - Capacities and utilization for DCPS schools that are swinging due to modernization are not reported. Source: OSSE Audited Enrollment, SY2013-14 to SY2025-26; DCPS and public charter LEA capacities (collected by DC PCSB)
