Students return to school in crowded classrooms

Going back to school is stressful for students, but it has proven to be even worse in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

When school began on Aug. 27, many local elementary school students returned to crowded classrooms — an issue that has plagued the district in recent years as student enrollment increased faster than they could accommodate.

There were 12,147 students enrolled in the district this year — 18 more than projected. There were 11,878 students enrolled in the district last year.

To alleviate some of the crowding, CHCCS expects to open Elementary School 11 in August 2013.

A systemwide redistricting will move students to the new school.

But until then, district officials and teachers are looking to new ways to accommodate the influx of students.

Seawell Elementary School — one of the most crowded schools in the district — is only a few seats away from being capped.

“We have had to monitor our capacity and have talked about capping Seawall,” said Todd LoFrese, assistant superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

“We monitor staffing and continue to add some staff to accommodate the increase in students.”

Mia Burroughs, chairwoman of the Board of Education, said schools are also turning extra spaces into classrooms.

“They are squeezing into any space that is an appropriate space for a classroom,” Burroughs said.

LoFrese said crowding can affect the school environment.

“I think it does make an impact. Even simple things like how many lunch waves a school schedules,” LoFrese said.

“It affects a lot of things. It’s something we don’t like to do because it causes disruptions.”

He said the newly constructed elementary school will only solve the problem temporarily.

“When we open Elementary 11 it will give us temporary relief, but not for long,” LoFrese said.

“Our projections show that in four years from the opening of Elementary 11, we will need to build an Elementary 12.”

James Barrett, a member of the Board of Education, said the first week of school showed the district’s ability to adapt to crowding.

“It has been a really smooth transition,” Barrett said.

“It has been organized and teachers have worked hard to make students feel comfortable.”

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.