Welcome to Portable-Ville!

I toured Beulah Elementary School late this afternoon on my way home, and I must admit I was amazed at the burgeoning portable farm out back and to the East of this school.  Beulah Elementary has been a popular neighborhood school for decades, all three of my children attended school here, yet over the last 6 years this school has seen exponential growth.

Today, the gates were open so I went in and looked around.  Wow--18 portables and a brand new 8 classroom modular!  The school's EOY attendance figures show the school nearing 1000 students, even though it was initially designed for 650 or so.  Now, the portables, modulars, and permanent 8 classroom addition completed in 2009 are beginning to swallow the entire back-yard area of the school.

But the true growth is just now starting to ramp-up.

Right down the road, literally 1 and 1/2 miles west, at the Helms road/Beulah road intersection, is a brand new subdivision under construction.  According to the realtor I spoke with there today, the demand for lots has been brisk and there are 103 home sites in this particular development Woodlyn Meadows.  "We've got another one right down the road, about a half-mile from here south on Beulah road" said the salesman.  That new subdivision, Weaver's Run, will have more than one hundred new home sites.  This in addition to the exploding Nature Trail on 9 mile road, Twin Spires, Woodglen on Mobile Highway, another expansive high-density development on Tower-ridge road, and a brand new, gigantic apartment complex being built right at the I-10 and exit 5.  All of these developments, and more, are being built right now in the Beulah attendance zone;  To address this, the plan is to move 300 students, out of 1000, and bus them north to Cantonment, and then to build a new Middle school in Beulah.

This plan will do nothing to fix Beulah.  These new developments, within 12-24 months, will fill Beulah back up to over 1000 students and then we will be right back where we are today.

We need a new Elementary School in Beulah to alleviate the massive demand for Elementary School slots in this rapidly growing community--that is what is needed.

Why We Need to Get Students out of Portables

Occupied portable classroom behind one of our district's High Schools, photographed June 18th by a district teacher.

Occupied portable classroom behind one of our district's High Schools, photographed June 18th by a district teacher

One of our High School teachers forwarded these pictures to me.  

They tell a story better than I can describe in words, a story that must be told and discussed before we vote to spend upwards of $75 Million for three brand new schools, the effect of which will not eliminate all of the portables (like the ones pictured above) from being present on many campuses in our district.

When I asked this teacher about the current use of these portables pictured above, not believing they actually could/would still be used based upon the dilapidated appearance, I was told they were, in fact, still being used.  

"Yes sir, they are being used.  And the kids told me that they are "nice" inside.  They may think so, but I believe they deserve better"  Said this teacher.  

And I agree with her assessment--- as I'm sure most of the voters in the county would, given the fact we just asked them to re-authorize the half-cent sales tax for facilities needs.

Portable classrooms are a necessary evil in some cases--everybody gets this.  When school choice becomes a priority, and students choose other schools, sometimes temporary, portable capacity is needed.  Most folks have no problem with the utilization of these structures for temporary needs driven by school choice.

But when some schools have needs that keep expanding year after year after year--- the answer cannot be to create "portable farms" outside these schools.  Beulah Elementary school has 18 portable classrooms, 8 modular classrooms, for a total of 26 total classrooms that were not part of the school's original footprint-- creating capacity for an astounding total of  520 students.  (In addition to all of this relocatable capacity having been added to Beulah ES, an additional 8 classroom Kindergarten addition was built and added to this school in 2009.)  While these portable and modular units allow for the additional classroom space necessary--this comes at a cost;  The portables must be evacuated during thunderstorms, and these students and teachers then must try to teach and learn in doubled-up classrooms, the library, the PE room, and/or the cafeteria until the weather passes.  This is an