Too Many Kids, Too Few Schools

By Marc Carrel

We need to build more schools to reduce overcrowding.

I want to see that our kids have adequate space to learn. I serve on the district's Facilities Strategic Planning Committee which has ben examining this issue very closely. I played a key role in developing the committee's plan which the district is following to ease overcrowding in our schools: build two elementary, one middle, and up to ten small high schools over the next five years.

Creating small high schools is consistent with the district's innovative e21 high school reform effort. Studies have shown that school size is a predictor of academic performance. According to a 1997 study, achievement tends to drop when high schools exceed 900 students. And the greatest negative effects occur in high schools with over 2,100 students. With all of the district's high schools (except Johnson West) exceeding enrollment of 2,300 students, there is a clear need for more schools and more space.

When I presented the committee's recommendations to the school board, including the recommendation to fund construction of these new schools with a bond, the board quickly adopted the recommendations and placed a $225 million bond on the ballot to build these schools.

If the bond is adopted by the voters, I will see that all the proposed schools are developed within the next five years, and that they are located where overcrowding and projected growth is greatest. I will also work to see that the money is spent responsibly and efficiently.

If the bond does not pass, though, I will work to find other funding sources in order to releive the overcrowding that our students and teachers face each day.