Kids moved to new schools due to crowding
Students in Heidi Ragan's kindergarten class at Peninsula Elementary listen to the story of the Gingerbread Man. Kindergarten classes at Peninsula and Sage Point were among the classes affected by overpopulation at some schools and underpopulation at others.
MOSES LAKE - Shifting school populations will require some kids in the Moses Lake School District to be shifted from one elementary school to another. It's generated some rumors in 2013, but district superintendent Michelle Price said it's a process that happens every fall.
"We are making some adjustments across the district," Price said. District-wide there are 28 classes that have too many students for their available space, she said.
Price said the problem is most acute at Sage Point and Park Orchard. "The enrollment at those two schools is beyond where we have classrooms available," she said.
The start of all-day kindergarten at Sage Point was an additional complication, she said. All-day kindergarten was implemented district-wide this year, and that does require additional classrooms. She has heard suggestions to delay the imposition of all-day kindergarten at Sage Point but that still wouldn't provide enough space, she said.
In addition, kindergarten and first grade classes will be smaller this year, about 21 kids as opposed to 25 kids in the 2012-13 school year, Price said. The first grade at Lakeview Elementary is slightly over that limit, but Lakeview officials tentatively have decided to increase the hours of classroom aides rather than start another class.
On Friday, district officials decided to add kindergarten and first grade classes at Peninsula that will include kids who live in the Sage Point attendance area, Price said.
"Each school, each situation, each class has a different strategy," she said. Peninsula had too many third and fourth grade students, but not enough for a full class in either grade, so school officials combined them, Principal Doug Luiten said.
But adjustments are still being made across the district, Price said. "We can't control the situation, we can only react to it," she said.
The district does allow parents to choose the school for their children, but when a school is overcrowded, students who live in the attendance area get first choice, Price said. District officials may have to redistrict the elementary schools for the 2014-15 school year, she said.