Columbia public school board to discuss overcrowding in schools
The Columbia Public School board met on Monday night to discuss the upcoming school year. One of the topics that was brought up was Gentry middle school and the amount of students it holds.
The school was built in 1994 and was set to hold a maximum of 650 students. In the 2015-2016 school year there were close to 900.
South Columbia is continuously growing, and CPS has tried to keep up.
Gentry is up to thirteen trailers to help with the overcrowding. However, that does not help with the size of the bathrooms, gym, and lunchroom. Community relations director for CPS, Michelle Baumstark said that it’s very difficult for children to get through the lunch line and eat their lunch in the amount of time provided for them.
Another reason for the size of the school is because of transfers for 65 students/children of employees this past year. Teachers who want their children closer or at the place where they work are allowed to request transfers to those specific schools. CPS does their best to accommodate each application.
One option they are considering is to re-do the boundaries for the middle school. While parents may be upset, Baumstark says it is a possibility. “When you are a student, you are a student in Columbia Public Schools and so we have an obligation to make sure that all of our students have the ability to be able to learn in a positive learning environment and that includes being in buildings that are not over capacity if we can help that in some way, shape or form.
Vice President of Columbia Public Schools says that “allowing transfers into a building that is already overcrowded is a concern to me, and I think there is a better way to manage that.”
Out of approximately 500 to 600 students that apply for the requested move, the board said about 20- 30 of those students get denied for that school year.
ABC17 reported earlier that a bond issue was passed to look for land and allow designs for a new middle school. CPS will also consider building on to existing locations.
CPS eventually wants to do away with trailers within ten years. Within the next several years they want to eliminate trailers.
The school board only discussed the issue, nothing was decided on Monday night. The Administration will eventually make the decision, not the board.
Columbia School Board also voted Monday night to repair the Derby Ridge sprinkler system, and to increase Hickman High Schools auditorium budget in order to meet safety code compliance requirements.
