Jefferson County Schools Still Battling Overcrowding

With the end of summer comes the reality of back to school, and for some across the county it brings back the headaches and stresses of real life. Jefferson County has experienced an influx of students that most schools simply cannot hold, particularly in recent years. As most of the schools have been around for some time, teachers and administrators are scrambling for solutions to an ever-growing problem.

County officials have stated that overall enrollment is up at 7, 420 students. This means that across the county most schools are on the verge of being overcrowded. A breakdown of enrollment shows that pre-k through 5 has 3,531 students, while middle schools have 1,744 students; the high school comes in with a total of 2,071 students. These numbers can fluctuate given the needs of special education students and walk-ins.

While the county has tried to make efforts to combat overcrowding with the building of schools such as Patriot Academy and Mt. Horeb, it’s still an issue. Mt. Horeb is almost at capacity with its overflow, and Talbot has lost its music and art rooms in the name of adding more Kindergarten classes. Currently, White Pine school is under renovation in hopes of getting rid of its portables and dealing with cafeteria capacity. Despite the widespread overcrowding, officials say that no other projects to deal with the overflow of students have been put before the county commissioners at this time.