District 30 adresses capacity concerns

Classrooms are getting more crowded in Valley Stream District 30’s three schools, according to Superintendent Nicholas Stirling and the District 30 Board of Education, with students nearly filling all available space in the district’s buildings.

“We saw a very large growth in our enrollment figures between last year and this year,” Stirling said. “Much larger than we anticipated.”

At the school board’s Sept. 22 meeting, Stirling reported that the district was approaching its self-imposed capacity guidelines in many grades. Enrollment, he said, rose to more than 1,500 students across the district’s three elementary schools, Forest Road, Clear Stream Avenue and Shaw Avenue.

Stirling stressed that the district was still under its class size guidelines in all classrooms and did not anticipate reaching or passing those limits this year. He did express concern about future years, and whether the district would be forced to expand its facilities.

While district and school administrators were prepared for a slight enrollment increase this year, Stirling said, the student population outpaced projections. According to those projections, the district expects to see a drop in enrollment in 2015-16. Board President Cristobal Stewart expressed doubt about that, noting that the district has been “bucking the trend” by growing faster than surrounding districts.

Stewart said the board would consider options for accomodating a larger population if enrollment continues to rise, but there are obstacles. “Right now, we’re essentially using all of our available space,” he said. “We don’t really have any unused classrooms right now that we can expand into.” He added the district may need to “get creative” in order to stay within its enrollment guidelines.