BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville School Board is awaiting results of a demographics study that will help the board formulate its next proposal to build a second high school.

The School District last month hired Jack Schreder and Associates, a firm based in Sacramento, Calif., to conduct the study. The district’s contract with the firm is for $125 per hour, not to exceed 350 hours or $43,750, according to Sterling Ming, district finance director.

The study will show how much growth the district should expect to see in coming years and where that growth will be concentrated, said Superintendent Michael Poore.

The firm expects to complete a draft report of its study by mid-April, according to Cheryl King, a senior associate at Schreder and Associates. The board will incorporate that information as it finalizes a millage proposal for district voters in May. The district expects to hold an election in September, Poore said.

The demographics study is a step the district did not take last year before it proposed a 6.7-mill tax increase for a second high school and other improvements. Voters rejected that proposal in June.

“This new board has been very direct in terms of sharing they would like to have that type of (demographics) information,” Poore said.

Four of the board’s seven seats have changed hands since the last millage election.

Rudy Upshaw, a board member, said he can’t wait to see the demographics report.

“I’m really looking forward to that data,” Upshaw said. “That will really help us understand what our growth needs are.”

Brent Leas, another board member, also supported hiring a demographer.

“I think it’s good to get a full understanding so the public understands we went above and beyond and made sure to look at all angles and verify that yes, we do have a great need,” Leas said.

King and Jamie Iseman, a geographic information systems specialist, are doing the Bentonville study for Schreder and Associates. They have worked for the firm for a combined 32 years.

Neither one has done a study of this kind for any school district outside of California, but King said the methods they use apply anywhere they go.

“Most of our work is research-based,” King said. “The study will look at what’s happened in the past, what’s happening now and project into the future what will happen.”

Knowing how demographics change is key for school districts as they make plans for new facilities, King said.

The study will include enrollment projections by grade level and attendance zones based on factors such as real estate development, birth rates and the number of jobs being created in the area, King said. Demographers also will determine a student generation rate that provides the average number of students expected to come from a certain number of houses.

To complement the team’s research, King said she plans to visit Bentonville during the first week of April to meet with city and county planners.

Enrollment at Bentonville High School is about 3,900, a little above its ideal capacity. Enrollment is expected to surpass 5,000 by 2015, according to district projections.

Though addressing the high school facility issue is the School Board’s first priority, the district is running out of space at other education levels as well.

The district has an ideal capacity of about 6,000 students in its 10 elementary schools. Elementary school enrollment is already at about 6,300 and is projected to rise to 8,800 by 2017, district figures show. Figures show a similar capacity issue at the district’s four middle schools.

“The last couple of years the word’s been all about high school growth, but we’ve got a looming elementary and middle school problem, too,” Upshaw said.