East County schools see continual increase in student population

The principal of an elementary school with one of the largest student populations in East County, Jim Mennes, doesn't shy away from crowds.

His school is packed every year, and populations have continued to grow since the 640 students Freedom Elementary had when he became principal in 2009.

"There's no room in the inn," Mennes said, laughing. "We’re full here. We have eight portables, and they're all full. What if more kids come? We'd teach them, love them, stack them on top of each other, whatever. We'd deal with it."

The school's population annually reaches more than 800 students, and it's going to keep increasing, he said.

Freedom's population growth spurt is a trend throughout East County, as new developments take shape and new residents and their families arrive to fill those homes and the surrounding schools. 

GreyHawk Landing residents primarily sent their children to B.D. Gullett Elementary, which eased some of Freedom's stress when the neighboring school opened in 2007. Now that the community has more houses being built in a different section of the community, those students are zoned for Freedom, Mennes said.

Based on population numbers for the 2015-2016 school year, seven of East County's 13 schools are over capacity.

How many students a school can hold is based on number of classrooms and a range of other criteria.

"Calculating capacity is an extremely complicated issue," said Mike Barber, spokesman for the Manatee County School District. "Capacity is in terms of how many student stations can be held in a particular facility."

The state sets capacity numbers, which are generated in to a Florida Inventory of School Houses, or FISH, report. The report considers portables, classrooms and school size, Gullett Elementary Principal Shirin Gibson said.

Although on paper Gibson's school falls below capacity, the report doesn't consider how classrooms are utilized. For example, Gullett has three computer labs, which 44 classes use.

"The report thinks every room is a classroom, and it doesn't register portables, labs and other types of learning environments," Gibson said. "People think we still have room for kids, but no. Those classrooms are used for academics, just in a different way. We don't have one empty classroom in this school."

Another contributor to soaring populations is school choice, which allows parents to choose which school their child attends, regardless of their neighborhood, School Board member David Miner said.

Student population is lopsided throughout the county.

"In the middle and other parts of the county some schools are under capacity," Barber said. "How do we balance that out while dealing with additional growth out east?"

Limits on classroom size also decide how full each room can be.

Kindergarten through second grade classes can only have 18 students, and third- through fifth-grade classes are permitted up to 22 students.

Freedom Elementary has a few open seats in lower grade levels, but not in fifth-grade classes.

"If I get a handful of new second-graders next year, I'm fine," Mennes said. "If I get 10 fifth-graders, we're going to be busy. That would be interesting."

Some schools, such as Braden River Middle and Freedom Elementary, have plenty of property to house additions.

Smaller schools, such as Gene Witt Elementary, don't have that flexibility.

To accommodate more students, schools are taking different approaches.

Last year, Robert E. Willis Elementary implemented a co-teach classroom for kindergarten classes. Two teachers share a classroom, so double the amount of students can fit in one space.

This year, the school offers three co-teach classrooms in kindergarten, first- and third- grades.

"It's not too noisy," Assistant Principal Michelle Danowski said. "The teachers who are doing it have great classroom management skills. Now we can have 30 to 36 kids in a classroom rather than 15 to 18."

The school has no portables, which is a common remedy schools use to house more students.

Lakewood Ranch and Braden River high schools, Bashaw Elementary, Nolan Middle and most of the schools in East County rely on portables to house at least three classes or labs.

More than 10 years ago, Braden River Middle utilized 23 portables. Today it has five, thanks to the opening of Carlos E. Haile Middle School.

Mennes said portables are a suitable option rather than building additional classrooms.

"I would take more portables," Mennes said. "They aren't these horrible, dilapidated rooms. They have white boards, internet access and they're decent. Educators love them. Portables are like their own little world outside of the school building."

What's next?

As construction continues on communities, such as Echo Lake Apartments, along Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, 44th Avenue and other East County roads, the school district is hoping to manage growth by making a Long-Range Master Plan to balance out school population inequalities.

The plan, which should be finished by January, will determine what makes certain schools more appealing than others, demographics, student counts and other factors to determine whether more schools are needed in the county.

Officials anticipate needing at least one new school in East County.

"Some schools might just need some love, while others might need to be knocked down and rebuilt," said Robert Johnson, district director planning and performance management. "Either way, we're going to try to find a balance in classrooms."