Cheney schools combat overcrowding with construction

Can you have too much of a good thing? The Cheney School District was left wondering that this year as its enrollment numbers skyrocketed past earlier projections, making the ongoing school construction more vital than ever.

School officials watched as the district’s population continued to climb steadily throughout the year, reaching its peak last month. The district has added nearly 300 students to its rolls since the end of the last school year in June.

Enrollment at several local elementary schools has jumped significantly, including Sunset Elementary, which has increased from 384 students in 2015 to 522 in 2018. At Windsor Elementary, enrollment is currently at 535 students, up from 486 three years ago.

There’s also been a large uptick in sixth-grade students at the middle school level,. The sixth-grade class at Cheney Middle School has 182 students, while at Westwood Middle School it has 250.

The district even hired local Realtor Mike Livingston to scout for future school sites, mainly in the Airway Heights area. However, the district is not planning on making an offer on land any time soon and is currently trying its best to analyze growth trends and future needs.

While sudden increases in enrollment are exciting for any school district, they’ve also left school administrators scrambling to place them, saying that the additions currently under construction in the district can’t come fast enough.

The district’s long-held plan of adding classrooms couldn’t have come at a better time, and the last year has brought significant progress in construction, with several area dignitaries and officials participating in a groundbreaking at Cheney High School in July and a new secure entryway and classroom wing being constructed at Betz the same month. That wing is now open for students.

With a few rare exceptions, the construction has stayed on schedule all year as contractors worked to add space for students and improve school security. The $52 million bond approved by voters in 2017 provides for 25 new classrooms at the elementary level and 17 new high school classrooms.

Now, school officials are saying it might not be enough.

The added space was intended to see students through 2028, but district department heads have expressed doubt that the schools will remain below capacity until then.

“My guess is we may not be able to get to 2028, especially at an elementary level,” Superintendent Rob Roettger said. “It’s much more likely that we’ll make it till then at the high school.”

Predicting school enrollments far in advance is extremely difficult, Roettger said. Making predictions about attendance is based on the most current information, but that can change at a moment’s notice.

At the time the bond was passed, school officials didn’t even know tech giant Amazon would be building a Fulfillment Center in the area, or that the general population growth would be so explosive.

The district is in the midst of conducting an attendance boundary review, with suggested revisions set to be put before the school board any day now. Whether that will alleviate overcrowding and take the pressure off construction remains to be seen.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].