Residents question ninth grade relocation

Superintendent Camille Wright gave a presentation regarding the ninth grade’s move to Enterprise High School during a Feb. 25 meeting of the Enterprise Board of Education.

Despite the presentation, several community members expressed concerns about the timing of the move and the means used to approve it.

“Dr. Wright, I’m extremely happy about your selection as superintendent, and I don’t disagree with the ninth grade going to the high school. (However), as a parent, I have some questions,” Reid Clark said. “You’ve been here six weeks. Why was the decision made to move this year, and why not wait and make a smoother transition later so there might not be issues in the fall?”

Clark also asked how the system could plan for its next 20 years when the issue of the $550,000 to be paid annually to the city still hasn’t been resolved.

The board did not comment to Reid’s question, but President Ross Cotter did say he would get back to him.

Dale Stinnett, a local business owner, expressed concerns with overcrowding at the high school as a result of the new ninth-grade students.

During her presentation, Wright said 17 classrooms at EHS were available to house more than 500 ninth graders.

“If you do the math, that’s almost 35 students per classroom,” Stinnett said. “I don’t understand how we can function like that.”

Wright said a 20-year capital study, which isn’t complete, revealed adequate space at the high school to move forward with the transition this year.

She went on to say that though the move may increase some class sizes at the high school, it would make student distribution more equitable throughout the system.

“There is only 91 square feet per student at the junior high schools, while there is currently 304 square feet per student at the high school,” Wright said. “This will add additional weight at the high school, but nothing to the extent that we currently have at the junior high level.”

Wright said the move to the high school would be best for students academically, and also provides a safe shelter for the more than 500 incoming ninth-grade students.

However, she did outline some disadvantages from the plan in her presentation.

Wright said floating teachers — teachers without a permanent classroom — could likely result from the transition.

“We’ll have to align teachers to rooms with students in them, so that opens up the possibility of some floating teachers,” she said. “However, we have to have students fill out their course schedules before we know what teachers we’ll need.”

Wright said there are currently 10 floating teachers at the junior high level.

“I’m sure there are going to be things that pop up that we haven’t thought of, but this team has gone above and beyond to make sure your children will be in great shape next year,” Wright said.

The capital study, performed by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, looked at demographics, capacity and projected growth over the next 20 years.

It also examined the system’s facilities.

“This is not based on opinion,” she said. “They sent in electrical, mechanical and structural engineers and estimated the cost to renovate each building.”

The future of the three junior high schools will be determined by a steering committee acting on information received from the capital study.

According to Wright, that committee is currently comprised of 35 members selected from a cross section of people in Enterprise including teachers, parents, community members and business leaders.

Those names have not been made public as of this time.

Wright said the system’s administration is working to give school groups a chance to recommend members for the committee.

“It’s your money, how do we move forward?” she said. “This is a community decision, but we want to make sure every student in Enterprise is housed in a facility that is safe, secure and provides them with a learning environment that can make them college and career ready and competitive in a global environment.”