Don't Make Students Mall Rats

But while already overcrowded classrooms have become more crowded, officials have spent too much time debating how to deal with the overcrowding and not enough time taking action.

Now their efforts have proved too little, too late -- especially now that officials are considering the use of former store space (such as Belks at University Mall or an empty Food Lion) to house temporary classrooms for the overflow of students while a new school is built.

School and county officials have watched the area schools grow to full capacity, debated the best way to deal with this growth and introduced a controversial Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance -- but have failed to actually break ground on a new high school facility to alleviate the problem.

But after the capacity of Chapel Hill High School reached 110 percent last year, officials have finally begun to debate a site for the construction of a third area high school.

The only problem is that the new high school will not be completed until August 2005 -- when the high school system is expected to be 800 students over capacity. Until then, board members and commissioners have come up with some interesting ideas about where to house the overflowing students.

The suggestions include the use of the usual trailer classrooms and mobile units. Although these temporary units are expensive and an inconvenience for students and teachers alike, they are the best option for schools facing overcrowding.

But another option being considered -- using space at Belks or an empty Food Lion store space for alternate classrooms -- is not only silly but would seriously damage the quality of students' educational experience.

If students were transplanted to classrooms in former store space, they would be removed entirely from the school environment. They would be forced to separate themselves from extracurricular and social opportunities that normal school facilities traditionally offer.

County and school officials should avoid using this option at all costs.

At least holding class inside trailers, although far less desirable than a spacious new school, will still keep students on campus and allow access to social settings like cafeterias, athletic facilities such as gymnasiums or fields, and artistic opportunities in studios and music rooms.

Classrooms in former store space would likely eliminate these options, and the quality of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro education system would be seriously depleted.

Finally, because the new school will not be completed until 2005 at the earliest, it is possible some students could be forced to spend half of their high school lives attending "Food Lion East" high school -- not the most ideal place for students to spend the vulnerable years of their youth.

A former commercial environment is not exactly conducive to academic achievement -- kids might not feel like they are actually at school when they get dropped off at University Mall in the morning. And you can imagine the cheap shots: "Attention shoppers -- I mean students! Please report to aisle four for your assembly!"

Measures should be taken to keep students inside the school environment. Other school systems have dealt with overcrowding by keeping the ninth-grade class at the middle school and spreading the overcrowding throughout the elementary level.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools pride themselves on their standards of academic excellence, usually evident in their facilities and staff.

But the district already has suffered because county and school officials have waited so long to act on the predictable overcrowding of the area's public schools.

Now officials should use every option possible in order to keep students in a school environment and out of former store space.

Carolyn Pearce can be reached at cpearce@email.unc.edu.