JACKSON MAKES DO HANDLING SWELLING STUDENT NUMBERS

JACKSON, Mo. -- A stampede occurs every time the school bell rings at R.O. Hawkins Junior High.

Students rush into the hallways during the period of time between each class assignment, hoping to carve a quick path through crowded hallways. Those in the lead are fairly successful in navigating the narrow corridors. But those students taking up the rear find themselves being pushed, prodded, bumped and jabbed by nearly 800 students traveling multiple directions simultaneously.

"They do what they have to do, and yes, there is a lot of pushing and bumping to get through," said Principal Dennis Parham. "We're just lucky we have such good kids."

Parham said students attending classes in the "new" building, an addition built some 16 years ago, are being rerouted the long way around that facility to eliminate a four-way traffic jam that would otherwise occur if they traveled directly from the addition to the main building.

It's just one of the makeshift measures being implemented to reduce effects of a swelling enrollment.

The school district hopes voters will approve a $6 million bond proposal to be considered Nov. 7 that would provide breathing room by way of 18 new classrooms, a new gymnasium, and other improvements. The measure requires a 10-cent tax increase per $100 assessed valuation. For the owner of a house valued at $100,000, the increase would mean roughly $20 in additional taxes annually.

Roomless teachers

Conditions at the junior high aren't just crowded in the hallways. A number of teachers have classes of between 29 and 33 students, which teachers said reduces space between seating. The close quarters also reduces the amount of personal interaction teachers can have with students and the use of creative teaching strategies.

"If we have less students, there's going to be more room for activities," said math teacher Marilyn Turner. "Once you teach a lesson, it's even hard to get to six or seven students to make sure they're understanding what you're teaching."

English teacher Patti Miinch is one of four teachers who travels from room to room each hour because there aren't enough classrooms available. "I don't even have a desk. I just got a file drawer yesterday," said Miinch Thursday morning.

Miinch lugs around her record book, teacher's manuals, and other papers each hour, having given up her cart "because it was almost impossible to get through the halls." She said she's opted not to do a number of special projects because she'd have to carry them around and doesn't have anywhere to store them.

Despite these teaching obstacles, Miinch said she loves her job and wouldn't dream of working anywhere else.

"To me, this is the best place I can be," she said.

The 'dungeon'

One place no one in the school wants to be is in an area referred to by students as "the dungeon." The area includes physical education locker rooms, a former industrial technology classroom and custodial storage closets that have been converted into special education classroom. It has no ventilation system and bears the aftermarks of numerous leaky pipes.

"The pipes are getting so old in this building they're starting to burst," Parham said. "And this is the original air and heating system, so we're a little concerned about that, since most systems are replaced after 15 or 20 years."

Parham said mold and spores are a problem throughout the building. Several years ago, the system was shut off in a science room for the summer. When custodians returned, they found the room overcome by mold.

"It was on everything," Parham said. "We had a custodian who didn't do anything for several days except try to clean it off desks and chairs and everything else in the room."

On a daily basis, students and teachers who suffer allergies have problems in the building. In especially bad areas, teachers use air filtration systems to reduce the effects of mold.

How the bond issue would help

Should the bond issue pass, Miinch and the other traveling teachers would each receive a classroom, and classes would be moved out the basement and into the new addition. Two classrooms would be used to expand the school's library, another would be used to expand the art department, and one room would be used to expand the kitchen/cafeteria area.

The remaining five classrooms would be used to reduce class sizes and expand curriculum offerings.

"People think we're asking for a lot of space, but we've actually got most of those rooms already assigned," said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Rita Fischer. "What we're asking for will give us breathing room, but it's not giving us a lot of extra space."