Portable classrooms approved in Sylvania

10/2/2002

Crowded conditions at Highland Elementary School should be eased somewhat by the middle of next month when a portable building with two classrooms is scheduled to be installed on school grounds.

The Sylvania board of education approved buying the building from Taylor Classroom Sales, Inc., for nearly $60,000.

Alan Bacho, director of facilities and operations for the board, said the only additional expense should be the electrical hook-up of the building, but he had no estimate on that cost.

The need for more space became evident to school administrators before this school year began when there was a late surge in registrations for the school, the western-most in the district. Pupils this year leveled off to about 640 in a building with a maximum capacity of 625.

Superintendent Les Schultz said some space has been reconfigured in the building to create classrooms. The portable building will be in use as soon as it is installed and usable.

Even with the additional space, classes such as those for children identified as gifted, will still be held at a nearby church. Growth is continuing, particularly in the western portion of the school district, but there are no plans to construct a new elementary building.

The board has established a Facilities and Land Utilization Task Force to study existing buildings and real estate holdings of the system. Among the tasks of the group is the study of projected population grown, potential redistricting, and the possible need for new construction.

The system owns land near Timberstone Junior High School, which is the western-most building in the district, and it has been considered as the possible site for a new elementary building.

The board has placed a moratorium on any real estate transactions until the task force makes its report.