Wallburg parents say they would like to see the system redraw district lines so some of the school’s students can attend Friendship and Hasty elementary schools. DON DAVIS JR. | HPE
Responding to parent concerns of overcrowding at Wallburg Elementary, Mock said he wasn’t “sure if the infrastructure could accommodate a large number of additional students without some major modifications.”
Parents expressed concern to The High Point Enterprise after Jay Temple, the system’s executive director of auxiliary services, told the Davidson County Board of Education earlier this month Wallburg Elementary could hold an additional 200 students. Mock said he requested Temple examine how much space is available at the school because of overcrowding conditions.
“Anytime we have a school that is overcrowded, we ask for reports on population trends,” Mock said. “How many kids were in the school last year? Are there classrooms that can be better utilized to accommodate short-term growth? There are concerns that parents raised and legitimately so. Our board knows this.”
Temple reported to the board of education that Wallburg Elementary had an enrollment of 907 students. He said there had been no growth in student population during the first half of the school year.
Temple’s report frustrated many Wallburg parents, who would like to see the system do something about overcrowding at the school.
“We are not concerned if there is one more square inch in a 30-year-old rusted-out unsanitary trailer to sit another student, but that our students cannot get a quality education with all of our staff and resources totally maxed out,” said Brooke Cable, co-president of the Wallburg Elementary Parent Teacher Organization.
“There is no reason to come up with solutions on how to cram more kids into Wallburg,” said Amy Galbraith, co-vice president of the Wallburg PTO. “If there wasn’t a very logical option, I would agree that we need to get creative with space. The solution is to let all the schools share in the crowding.”
Wallburg parents have expressed they would like to see the system redraw district lines so some of the school’s students can attend Friendship and Hasty Elementary schools.
Through the first month of the 2009-10 school year, Friendship had 494 students and Hasty 571, according to the school system.
dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657
And here's another scary thought, fellow Ledford-area parents of elementary school kids – ALL these children are being funneled to one bursting-at-the-seams middle school. It's great that the county is ready to buy some land for the new middle and high schools for Ledford and North, but we need those buildings built yesterday!