SPRINGDALE — Springdale may need a new elementary school by 2012 if the district continues to gain students, Springdale School Board members were told in a meeting Tuesday.
Most districts in the state are not growing, Assistant Superintendent Ron Bradshaw said, but Springdale still is.
Despite the state of the national economy, the district now has about 18,000 students.
“At some point, we have to look at whether we need to build new schools,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw presented enrollment projections to the board estimating the elementary school enrollment in district might grow from 9,169 students this year to 9,451 in 2010-2011, and 9,677 by 2011-2012. He estimated the current elementary school capacity at 10,001 students, so they are already more than 90 percent full.
The earliest a new school can probably be built is 2012.
Springdale may also need another middle school and junior high school within four to five years, Bradshaw said, but it is easier to find extra space on those campuses.
“It’s easier to be over in secondary schools than it is elementary schools,” he said.
Board members asked if he had knew why the district was growing. Bradshaw said he didn’t know of a specific factor that would explain the growth.
Superintendent Jim Rollins said there are probably a variety of factors that contribute to the enrollment increase, from the reputation of the school system to community growth within subgroups of the population.
Bradshaw also suggested that projecting growth from year to year is challenging.
“I do these projections. I don’t know if I have a lot of confidence in them,” he said. “We didn’t lose students through the year (last year). I thought that was a good sign.”
Administrators didn’t discuss specific locations where a new elementary school could be located.
One potential site, if officials were to chose to build in the east side of the district, is land the district owns by Sonora along U.S. 412.
The board took action on another item related to school construction, approving a new construction management contract with Baldwin Shell Construction, of Rogers.
The company will oversee upcoming renovation and addition projects at Central Junior High and the Parsons Hill and Westwood elementary schools.
Baldwin Shell is overseeing the ongoing renovation and expansion of Springdale High School, which is scheduled to be finished next semester.
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