About 96 stakeholders in the district took part in the meeting at Sparta Elementary. The group analyzed district demographic data from DeskMap Systems that was made available to the school board only last week.
“Demographic studies are great for trends and that’s what we’re basing our decisions on,” said Eric Haugeberg, assistant superintendent for support services.
One of the more striking statistics brought forward in the meeting was that in 10 years the district is projected to add more than 5,000 students to its overall population.
And, as several in attendance pointed out, the last time the district hosted a similar planning meeting in 2005, the growth projected then seemed high. On Monday, those 2005 statistics proved to be conservative.
“We were pretty close to being on the mark,” said Joe Peterka, Belton Middle School principal.
In 2005, the process led to a plan to build another elementary school in the district.
A successful bond election in 2006 allowed the district to build Tarver Elementary, which opened this year in West Temple.
This was the second of five meetings the group has scheduled to discuss long-range planning.
In a display of good teaching practices that could likely be witnessed in many classrooms within the district, Haugeberg walked around the room of adults and gave an overview of the demographic study and asked them to split up into groups and answer three questions.
After analyzing the data, the eight groups all agreed that the district is growing at an impressive clip and that the middle school population is quickly going to be at capacity for the district’s two buildings.
“When both schools are filled, you can’t find another seat,” said Kathy Cook, high school principal.
The projected growth at the elementary school level is also expected to be steep but could be absorbed more easily because there are seven elementary schools in the district.
“We can do reshuffling at the elementary schools, if needed, but not at the middle schools,” said Judy Schiller, principal at Lakewood Elementary.
At the first long range planning meeting held last week, district representatives reminded the committee members that the district is entering these meetings with no preconceived ideas about where they should go.
“It is not a rubber stamp process,” said Judy Owens, district spokeswoman.
As the groups analyzed the data, Haugeberg walked the room and said, “let your voices, let your opinions be heard.”
In addition to facilities planning, the group will also consider program needs within the district. The next meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 14 at Belton Middle School.
promer@temple-telegram.com
