School Overcrowding

By Cindy McGovern

SCHOOL OVERCROWDING
Overcrowding negatively affects student learning, the teacher work environment and neighborhoods. Student discipline problems increase, participation opportunities decrease, and multi-use facilities such as libraries, multipurpose rooms, bathrooms and playgrounds cannot support students' needs. Neighborhoods experience traffic congestion, parking problems and portables up against their backyards. We can do better. Let's work together to resolve school overcrowding!

1. Potentially inadequate developer fees could strap the school district or community to meet necessary facility construction costs. 

• The school district produced a Developer Fee Agreement "Cash Flow Sheet" that ascertained that the district would stop collecting developer fees in the year 2004.
• Build out of the community will not be completed by 2004.
• The district should continue collecting developer fees until build out when the full impact of development will be realized.
• This "Cash Flow Sheet" also exhibited the return of $6 million to developers who had signed the "Cooperative" developer fee agreement.
• In the "Cooperative Agreement" the developers pay $1/sq. ft. lower developer fees.
• In return for the lower fee, they agreed to pay any additional money needed to fund the facilities projects they agreed to build in the "Cooperative Agreement"
• Money should not be refunded until all facilities have been built and the full impact of growth is realized at build out of the community.
• Developers should not receive refunds particularly if these costs have already been passed onto homeowners or those who have purchased lots from developers.

• Pleasanton's reputation as a safe, family oriented community should keep this statistic constant.  
• The need for additional schools could actually increase due to new student growth in turnover housing. (Older houses being sold to families with children).

• Playground areas are being covered with portables providing less playground area for more children. 
• Facilities such as cafeterias, multipurpose rooms, libraries, parking lots, bathrooms, etc. are not built to handle the needs of additional students and teachers.
• Neighborhoods are already congested with traffic and student/parent parking.

• Our present two comprehensive high schools do not have enough acreage to provide facilities for 2,500 students each.
• Foothill H.S. is presently built to house 1,400 students. It has over 1,600 students now. Feature 900 more students at Foothill H.S.!
• Amador H.S. is built for 1800 students. Feature 700 more students on that campus!
• Large student populations lessen the opportunity for all students to participate in sports, band, Student Clubs, leadership, and all extracurricular activities.
• Large student populations lessen the opportunity for students to feel connected to their school and the adults who work there.
• Large student populations are more difficult to control. It has been demonstrated that larger schools have increased discipline problems. Because students are relatively less well known in larger schools kids fall through the cracks.

• Classrooms built to accommodate class size reduction at Mohr Elementary School required the building of an additional two story classroom wing to handle 650 students.
• Class size reduction in 9th grade English classes implemented this year required additional classroom space.
• Decreasing class sizes in other 9th grade subject areas and other grade levels as dollars are made available from the state will further impact overcrowding of facilities on campuses. This facility impaction will be compounded by increasing student enrollment.
• Facilities are always a huge cost factor in the decision to reduce class size.

• The Pleasanton community has passed two local school bonds totaling over $155 million dollars for facility renovation and construction.
• The Development Community has agreed to fund facilities construction and expansion for over $64 million dollars.  
• Neal Elementary School needs to be built in the Vineyard Corridor.
• New high school facilities need to be planned and built.
• Portables should not be placed on school sites to handle new student growth enrollments.
• Space needs to be included in new and existing schools to accommodate fluctuations in student population and the need for increased facilities resulting from classroom size reduction.