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Parents and community leaders representing 23 elementary schools in southwestern Fairfax County crowded into the Liberty Middle School cafeteria in Clifton on Thursday to begin talks on solving the region's overcrowding and facility renovation issues.

Enrollment for the year 2013 is projected to be as much as 16,700 students for the 23 schools — an average of 726 students per school — according to a study conducted by the school system. Overcrowding will be particularly bad at Eagle View and Colin Powell elementary schools, the study says. Additionally, 13 of the schools are projected to have a combined enrollment of 10,000 students — overcrowding them by almost 1,100 students.

The meeting represented the first in a series of gatherings during the next few months where the region's education needs will be discussed by the panel.

The 42 representatives — chosen by parent-teacher organization and parent-teacher association members — have been asked by the county schools Board of Education to craft a plan to address these issues. The plan will be presented to the Board of Education in January or February. Along with overcrowding, some other issues to be discussed are school capacity concerns, boundary-line adjustments and renovations to Clifton Elementary School to meet capacity needs, which are estimated to cost $19 million.

A Fairfax County Public Schools advisory panel will review the committee's findings next summer, public school officials said.

"What we would have done in the past is go to the board. Now we're asking you. I don't think anyone has done this before," Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer of the schools' Department of Facilities and Transportation Services, told the parents during the meeting.

Studies on growth and school facility needs are usually conducted by each school's staff. Then residential input is sought on these plans, school staff said. The schools are going to the stakeholders first to create this plan.

Tistadt told parents enrollment projections, made every five years, proved to be lower than current numbers. While larger families in previous years were moving to Loudoun County because of land availability and cheaper housing prices, now they are staying in Fairfax County because of threats of $5-a-gallon gasoline prices, he said.

"We can cram more kids in these buildings, but it doesn't mean we should do that," Tistadt said.

The committee's only action during the Oct. 29 meeting was to appoint two co-chairs: Kelly Hutter of Greenbriar East and Andrew Flagel representing Bonnie Brae Elementary School.

The committee will meet again Thursday night.