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Schools Crowded, But Coping Well
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Katie Carr
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Peotone Vedette
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September 4, 2008
Peotone School District 207-U had a "very good start" to the new school year, according to superintendent Kevin Carey.
After much talk about overcrowding, the school district has kicked off the semester with no major glitches.
According to Carey, overall district enrollment is about 2,018, which is slightly higher than last year. As of Aug. 27, the junior high reported an enrollment of 508 students and the high school reported 661 students.
With both the high school and middle school filled to the brim, administrators are making adjustments and doing what they can to find space.
"We're using all of the classrooms and some office areas are being used as classrooms," Peotone High School principal Doyle Owens said. "Every open room, to the best of my knowledge, is being used every hour. That's where the dilemma falls."
Owens said right now the school can make do, but if it hopes to add more art or science classes, for instance, it doesn't have the additional classrooms to meet the growth.
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The high school was constructed for about 600 students, which puts its enrollment now over that mark.
"It's not a ton over, but enough to put all the demands on your open areas, such as classrooms, lunchroom, band room and P.E. room," Owens said.
He added that the biggest concern was the need for additional lab areas, which are extremely expensive to add in the form of a mobile classroom.
Additionally, the high school has one social studies teacher who does not have his own classroom, but rather, he moves to open rooms or the auditorium each hour to teach. This number is down from last year, when two teachers were affected in this way.
"That's really a dilemma," Owens said. "We have a work area where all teachers can go to access computers or lock up their books, but it's not the same as having your own classroom."
Peotone Junior High School principal Greg Oliver said they had the same problem last year with one teacher, but said they don't have any teachers on wheels this year.
Owens was asked by school board members what the population breaking point is for the school. Owens said it depends on where the need is, whether it's science classrooms or otherwise.
Since there wasn't exceptional growth in class sizes this year, Owens said that when there is the growth, "we'll deal with it, but it's nice to have some time now to prepare for it."
"We're going to hold on as long as we can, but we'll be looking at the numbers and see what happens," Owens said.
He stressed that the administration has always been very fortunate to have respectful students who abide by the parameters the school sets.
"It's been a great start, the best in three or four years," Owens said. "The kids are going where they should go early. We've had very few kids tardy, and the hallways are clear in between classes. Our kids are very good, and we take a lot of pride in that fact."
The junior high is also learning to cope with the tight space.
Due to the late installation of a few items in the double-wide mobile classroom, which was purchased last month, the school did not use the classroom during the first few days of school.
"We put the mobile classroom up, which will help us with classroom space, but the problems we run into, for instance, is the cafeteria is still the same size," Carey said.
The social studies teacher who will occupy the mobile classroom, which has been named "the north campus," has been meeting in the library since the library doesn't open until after Labor Day.
"We're crowded, but we're pretty flexible," Oliver said. "Things are running smoothly. The first couple of days were challenging, but it always is."
Carey added that during the first week of school, there were not enough tables inside the junior high's cafeteria to fit all the students, so the school added a table outside the cafeteria.
"Once the year gets going, that will be reduced because more students will be ill and staying at home," Oliver said. "So we'll adjust. The kids have been good about it."
Hallways at both the high school and junior high are crowded between classes, Carey said.
Even so, the district reports the new school year has begun smoothly.
"I think we got off to a good start with all the buildings," Carey said. "The buildings are in good shape and it's always nice to have kids return to the schools."
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