Groveport Madison Schools’ enrollment continues to grow

By Rick Palsgrove
Southeast Editor

Groveport Madison Schools’ officials have updated the district’s enrollment numbers, which indicate a continued trend of more students.

According to Director of Student Services Dennis Harden, there are now 5,888 students attending Groveport Madison Schools, which is up by around 120 from last year.

“It’s a steady increase. We’re continuing to enroll students so that number will change,” said Harden.

“Most of the student growth is in the northern part of the district,” said Superintendent Bruce Hoover. “We’re looking at ways to increase space in both the northern and southern portions of the district. We’ll continue to monitor the trends to see where space is needed. As our achievement rises, our enrollment will grow.”

Hoover noted there is also another large population of students who live in the district but who attend charter and private schools instead of Groveport Madison.

“There’s enough of those students to fill another building (if they were to return to Groveport Madison),” said Hoover.

According to the district’s estimated numbers, here is the enrollment at each of the district’s schools (each elementary and middle school has a capacity of 500, except for Sedalia Elementary, which is 525; the high school’s current capacity based on modern requirements is 970): Asbury, 517; Dunloe, 435 (includes two modular classrooms); Glendening, 443; Groveport Elementary, 460 (includes a modular); Madison, 501; Sedalia, 498; Middle School Central, 422; Middle School North, 473; and Middle School South, 439. The district has 972 special education students.

The high school has about 1,700 students. Of those high school students, 280  attend Eastland Career Center. The high school’s crowding situation is expected to be alleviated when the new high school, which will have a capacity of 1,500, opens in 2018. VSWC Architects Vice President Chris Dumford, whose firm is working on the new high school, said there is room for expanding the new high school if needed sometime in the future.

Though some building numbers are below capacity, Communications Officer Jeff Warner said the amount of classroom crowding and a building’s actual functional capacity depends on what programs are offered at each school. For example, the maximum classroom capacity for special needs students is limited. So, fewer students in that particular classroom requires more students be housed in other fewer classrooms.

Hoover said the district could consider adding more modular classrooms or constructing building additions to existing buildings. He said if the district were to opt for building additions the rest of the existing building being added on to would have to be brought up to current building codes.

Hoover noted Madison Elementary has no room for building additions because of its property boundary limits. He said Sedalia and Dunloe elementaries have the most available land space for additions.

The funding to possibly build classroom additions would have to come from a small bond issue, according to district officials.

The board and district officials will review their options and estimated costs before making a future decision regarding whether to obtain additional modular classroom units or to build classroom additions. Hoover said he also hopes to bring a proposed district Phase 2 building construction plan to the board by December.

High school track repairs

The board approved a bid of $58,280 from Heiberger Paving Inc. to make repairs to and resurface the high school track in Cruiser Stadium. The repairs would include: cleaning and scraping the track surface, filling seam cracks, applying two coats of red structural spray, and striping eight lanes. It’s expected that it will take a week to make the repairs.

Hoover said a safety review of the high school track last spring found that some prior patching repairs on the track are pulling away and creating gaps on the surface. He said an inspector noted the district is “a season away” from possibly losing the track unless repairs were made.

The track was installed in 2003 and has a 20 year life span if it is maintained. Deputy Superintendent John Hurd said it would cost the district $160,000 if it had to replace the track.