The Frederick County Commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to apply county standards aimed at preventing school overcrowding, even after properties have joined municipalities.

Commissioner Charles Jenkins was absent for the vote.

School standards are in place for residential developments in the unincorporated parts of the county; the new ordinance will prevent developers from skirting them by having the property annexed.

The ordinance applies to any property annexed since June 23, 2009, which means it will include two annexations to the north of Frederick city that have been opposed by the commissioners.

Previously, annexed properties have followed municipal schools adequacy standards, which vary from town to town.

Half of the county's municipalities have no adequate public facilities ordinances for schools. In many cases, that means developers can build as many houses as other regulations allow, even if the local schools are already overcrowded.

Other municipalities have lax standards. For instance, developers who fail adequacy tests in Frederick city may simply wait three years and then build, Commissioners President Jan Gardner said.

"I think this is an education issue, and it is about putting kids first," she said. "It is up to the adults in the community to make sure we provide adequate schools for the education of our students."

The county standards will not be applied on existing municipal properties; those will continue to be governed by municipal regulation.

Commissioners said they wanted to establish the regulations because development within municipalities can overcrowd schools, which the county funds.

They originally proposed applying the standards on all incorporated properties, but decided on the recently annexed parcels as a compromise.

The measure has been supported by parents and teachers and generally opposed by municipal leaders.

Those leaders argued the county's most over-crowded schools are, for the most part, in areas where the municipalities are not involved.

Myersville town officials said they favor the ordinance because they have already passed school standards and think it would be better for the county to be equalized.

Under the ordinance, the Frederick County Planning Commission would be responsible for reviewing development application for schools adequacy.

A fee for county review has not been set. The fee for properties in unincorporated areas covers testing for emergency services and roads as well as schools.

The annexed properties will have to meet only county standards for school. Oversight of emergency services and roads will be left to municipal governments.

The county will need to set a lower fee for to test only for schools, commissioners said.

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