Classroom Lack Predicted

The latest Springs School enrollment report shows that it may be at least one elementary classroom short next year.

Eric Casale, the school principal, analyzed the data and trends during Monday night’s school board meeting, and offered an opinion: The time has come to explore options such as sending another grade to a different school or moving some administrators off campus, at least until the district is able to reconfigure the building or build more space. Springs prekindergartners are now housed at the former Most Holy Trinity School in East Hampton.

“We’re not going to be able to get from point A to point B in a year,” Mr. Casale said. “We need to get through this obstacle until space is available to us.”

The school now has 22 large kindergarten-through-fifth-grade classrooms, counting Springs Youth Association buildings and modular classrooms outside the main building. The school is most likely to need 23 or 24 large classrooms next year, according to Mr. Casale, who noted that the English as a new language program was likely to need more space.

A wild card is the current second grade. Students are divided into three sections, but there were four when they were first graders. Growing second-grade enrollment this year, along with requests from parents and teachers, prompted administrators to hire an extra second-grade teacher. There are now 75 second graders, and if that number continues to grow, the grade would have to be split into four sections. But, Mr. Casale said, there would not be a classroom available for the fourth section.

Springs School used to have two computer labs, but one was converted into a regular classroom in the 2014-15 school year when a bilingual kindergarten was established. Mr. Casale also analyzed the use of smaller classrooms for programs such as speech therapy and resource room, and what he calls specials, such as art, library, and music. He found that in 2012-13, 7 classrooms were shared by 8 teachers for specials, while 8 small classrooms were shared by 12 teachers for other programs or grades. This year, 6 classrooms are shared by 14 teachers for specials and 9 small classrooms are shared by 17 teachers for other programs and classes.

Springs, which has been grappling with its space problem for at least two years, has 726 students in kindergarten through eighth grade this year, and enrollment is projected at 740 next year. The district has 85 more students than it did four years ago. Seven new students enrolled in the past week alone.

“It’s so obvious that our school is bursting at the seams and growing,” Tim Frazier, the school board vice president, said. He suggested the administration explore staggering the time that school starts for different groups of students.

“You are in the process of negotiating your teachers’ contract. That may be a clause in the teachers’ contract that you may want to negotiate,” Mr. Casale replied.

When Barbara Dayton, a school board member, asked whether Most Holy Trinity School would have room to accommodate more students, John J. Finello, the superintendent, said Most Holy Trinity does have some classrooms available, but that sending additional grades there would involve a number of concerns, including access to a school nurse and transportation.

“We’ve tried to avoid that over the past couple of years by finding every nook and cranny we possibly can,” Mr. Finello said. “We’re getting to the point where if these kinds of numbers continue up, it won’t be just find one classroom. It could be find two or three.”