Students jostle for space as school designed for 650 brings more than 900

Today is the first day of a new school year, and nowhere will the hustle and bustle be felt more acutely than at Rose Springs Elementary.

The school has been the fastest growing in the Tooele County School District since it opened in 2005 with 570 students. This year, Rose Springs, which is designed to be full at 650 students, is expected to be flooded with 902 students on opening day, according to school principal Leon Jones.

“It will be about 100 more than what we had last year,” Jones said. The higher-than-expected enrollment at Rose Springs caused the district to add one more classroom and teacher to the school. Last year, a portable with two classrooms was moved to Rose Springs. Then this summer the district moved in two more portables in anticipation of enrollment growth, but with the surge in enrollment in the last few weeks, plans are now underway to move an additional portable to the school, according to Ken Luke, Tooele County School District assistant superintendent.

“Unfortunately there is only one company in the state that is licensed to move these type of portables,” Luke said. “We are at their mercy.”

When the final portable arrives, Rose Springs will have seven classrooms in portables, housing 175 students — roughly a fifth of the school’s student body.

Even with the portables, Jones has had to get creative about finding ways to squeeze in all the students.

For the second straight year, one class will meet in the school’s computer lab. Linda Mair started her fourth-grade class last year in the computer room while waiting for a portable to be moved.

“We survived the computer room,” said Mair. “The continued growth is amazing. All of us that teach out here in the portables are talking about starting our own homeowners’ association. Pretty soon the number of students outside the school will outnumber those inside.”

The need for another elementary school in the area has been a topic of discussion at several Tooele County School Board meetings. Currently, the school district’s 10-year growth plan adopted by the board last spring doesn’t call for the opening of another new elementary until the fall of 2013.

Crowding isn’t an issue unique to Rose Springs.

Settlement Canyon Elementary, opening for the first time today, may already be running a close second to Rose Springs in terms of overcrowding. The latest enrollment figures for Settlement Canyon place the school at 679 students, compared to an original district estimate of 460. As a result, school administrators have asked for teachers from schools where enrollment projections dropped to volunteer to move to Settlement Canyon.

“All together, four and a half teachers were moved to Settlement Canyon,” said Terry Linares, Tooele County School District superintendent. “All but one volunteered to go, one was a new teacher that was reassigned.”

Two of those teachers came from Middle Canyon. John Sorenson, one of Middle Canyon’s most experienced teachers with 38 years in education, volunteered to go along with Chelsea Nash, a first-year teacher. A half-time kindergarten teacher from East Elementary along with teachers from Overlake Elementary and West Elementary also moved to Settlement Canyon.

“We are ready,” said Gailynn Warr, Settlement Canyon principal.

Luke explained why the actual start of school often leaves officials scrambling to reshuffle teachers and find classroom space.

“Right before school starts, we get a lot of students that transfer as a result of moves made during the summer,” said Luke. “The result is our projection of total number of students is right, but the count at each school changes.”

Luke said the scrambling is an annual event for district officials.

“This is an exciting time of the year, and it will be great to have kids back in the classroom,” Luke said. “You know stuff happens at the district office, stuff happens at the school office, but the really important action is in the classroom with teachers and students learning.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com