Schools

Trustees to Consider Ways to Deal with School Overcrowding

School officials will hear a presentation on Tuesday about ways to cope with higher-than-expected enrollment growth.

School officials next week will consider recommendations on how to deal with overcrowded schools in Dougherty Valley.

San Ramon Valley Unified School District staff at a Tuesday meeting will present a set of suggestions on how to accommodate higher-than-expected enrollment growth.

One way is to build a temporary elementary school campus that doubles as a city community center, according to the district. It would include a multipurpose room, 10 classrooms and up to three other rooms.

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The interim campus would be considered an extension of Quail Run Elementary School and house students through the 2016-17 school year, said district spokesman Terry Koehne in a statement.

The district also recommends building new classrooms at Quail Run and adding more portables in the near future.

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Dougherty Valley's two middle schools should also get more portables to brace for future enrollment growth, the district says.

The district says it's time to start planning for a bond measure as well, possibly for an entirely new campus or expand existing ones to handle the population growth projected in the proposed General Plan 2030 – a blueprint for the city's future.

Also included in Tuesday's presentation is a recommendation to expand Dougherty Valley High School.

Higher-than-expected enrollment at the Dougherty Valley's four elementary and two middle schools has made it tough for the district to house all those students in their neighborhood campuses. Some have had to be diverted to other schools in Danville and San Ramon.

, which means the district can house all those students without adding classrooms to three of those four elementary schools. 

That means Live Oak, Hidden Hills and Coyote Creek elementary schools won't need any more portables in the 2011-12 school year, according to Koehne.

“We believe this proposal is sensible and allows us to keep a close eye on student enrollment patterns moving forward and act accordingly,” said Superintendent Steven Enoch.

Quail Run has enough room for the district to expand the campus over time and keep Dougherty Valley students at the campus closest to where they live, Enoch said.

Though trustees have a slew of options, both short- and long-term, to consider, the district needs more time to study the growth pattern in Dougherty Valley, Koehne said.

At a glance

WHAT: Board of Education meeting
WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday
WHERE: , 4000 Golden Bay Ave., in San Ramon
INFO: 925-552-5600


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