Newest Jefferson City public school overcrowded

Pioneer Trail to add three classrooms

In this Nov. 24, 2015, file photo, students walk along a sidewalk near Pioneer Trail Elementary School.
In this Nov. 24, 2015, file photo, students walk along a sidewalk near Pioneer Trail Elementary School.

Next school year, the Jefferson City district will add a trailer and reconfigure existing space at Pioneer Trail Elementary to deal with overcrowding in the younger grades.

The four kindergarten classes are averaging 26 students, and once another classroom for kindergarten is added, the class sizes will be around 20. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recommends districts keep those class sizes at 17 to 25 students.

With the purchase of a trailer, the district will have two classes housed in the trailer and are working out where to put another classroom inside the building. The three new classes will be made up of a kindergarten class, first-grade and second-grade classes.

This year, Pioneer Trail had a large group of fifth-graders moving on to the middle school. They'll reassign some of the teachers to accommodate the three new classes.

Pioneer Trail was part of a $33 million bond issue passed in 2007. At the time, Chief Financial Officer Jason Hoffman and Director of Facilities Bob Weber said they had built the school with room to grow into it.

But they've been stumped by unexpected growth, Hoffman said.

Starting in 1999, the district was experiencing steady declines in student enrollment across the board. But in 2009 when they added all-day kindergarten, they experienced a sharp increase in kindergarten enrollment, from 652 students to 730 in one year.

"My contention is that we're not growing anywhere else. It's just kindergarten," which is strange, he said, because there hasn't been growth in the local industries nor has there been an influx in young people moving into the district.

As of September 2015, Pioneer Trail was 36 students above the student capacity of 538, making it one of three district schools currently overcapacity.

Belair Elementary School and the Simonsen Ninth Grade Center are the only other schools also over capacity. As of Sept. 14, Belair was over by seven students and Simonsen by 52.

Research shows having smaller class sizes is especially important in earlier grades, which is why they're addressing space concerns at Pioneer Trail first.

Superintendent Larry Linthacum said they're not planning to add trailers at Belair or Simonsen at this time. Having a trailer at Simonsen especially is difficult because of it's location on a hill.

Once they add the trailer at Pioneer Trail, the district will have four trailers - two at Nichols Career Center and one at East Elementary School.

"I know having trailers is not ideal, especially since in April 2007 we wanted to do away will all trailers," Linthacum said. "We still believe that, but it's more important to have small classes."

Weber figures they'll spend about $60,000 on a used trailer that will be refurbished and outfitted with new flooring, electricity, technology, furniture, and a ramp and steps. As of now, they aren't planning to add plumbing to the trailer, so students will have to use bathrooms in the main building.

They plan to place the trailer about 140 feet from the nearest in-building restroom, and it will be inside the fenced area of the playground.

To ensure students safety, Weber said a camera will be pointed at the entrance of the trailer and it will be hooked up to the main building's intercom and fire alarm.

In the coming months, they'll also train building staff on student safety and drills that pertain to being inside the trailer.

In order to buy a new base model trailer, Weber said it would set them back around $100,000. They feel because of the poor resale value of trailers, taxpayer money would be better spent purchasing a used trailer.

And the trailer is a temporary solution, Linthacum said.

The funding will come from the district's capitol improvement fund, which is used for building projects.