Report Shows Highland View Elementary 'Not Over Capacity'

Target class sizes may be at or near the limit at Greendale's , but the school is not over building capacity.

That is the finding of a new report presented to the school board at its December 19 meeting.

The requested a facilities review of the school to find out its capacity capabilities after the . That move had been recommended by a planning team made up of local residents to address lack of classroom space and overcrowding at the school.

Instead the board approved a plan to renovate existing common spaces at the school into additional classrooms. Those plans were completed in time for the start of the current school year.

The Peter Scherrer Group completed the study after examining the school's individual classroom occupancy, total building occupancy and total building occupancy should the district offices be moved out of the school.

Representatives from the company told school board members that the current building occupancy is 514, while the total building capacity is 1,193 people in 'non-simultanous occupancy.'

They explained that means you can't fill every space in the building to capacity at the same time.

They also said their findings are based on national building codes, which address life-safety issues, not what is an ideal classroom environment. They said that right now every classroom is in 'a comfortable situation', using 25 students per classroom as the example, and that it would remain that way if the district offices move.

School Superintendent Bill Hughes recommended that the board continue to study ways to move the district offices to another school facility within the district and to create efficiencies with the Village by sharing services.