Cabarrus County Schools is implementing a temporary enrollment cap at W. R. Odell Primary School and W.R. Odell Elementary School.
The enrollment cap will start April 1 for new students in grades 1 through 5 enrolling for the 2026-27 school year, and it will remain in place until a new elementary school opens in the northwest part of the county. The cap will not affect students who already attend the schools or students entering kindergarten in the 2026-27 school year.
Students who live in the attendance boundary of those schools will be assigned to Carl A. Furr Elementary School. Transportation will be provided for those students — the district says there’s a roughly $85,000 cost associated with the cap related to those transportation services.
Cabarrus County expects to see continued growth in its student population, particularly in the northwest part of the county. The number of school-aged children living in Cabarrus County was about 45,379 last year. District leaders say that number is expected to rise to above 51,000 by 2040.
Five of the six elementary schools in the northwest part of Cabarrus County are at more than 110% utilization.
Odell Primary School, for students in grades K-2, was designed for 734 students, but that can be stretched to 874 with mobile classrooms. There are currently 1,044 students.
Odell Elementary School, which covers grades 3-5, was built for 882 students and 1,082 with mobile classrooms. There are currently 1,084 students.
Carl A. Furr is the only one that’s under-utilized, at 88%.
District leaders said t this would be a temporary solution.
“I want to be clear about this: This does not address the overutilization at Odell Elementary and Odell Primary,” said Jonathan Bowers, CCS Chief of School Performance and Auxiliary Services, at a school board meeting Monday. “This is a temporary relief measure in the lightest sense. To not do this continues to exacerbate the challenge that we have.”
The district projects a new school will open in the fall of 2028. The district says it purchased the land, but still needs funding from the county.
