Student numbers up in Charlo school district

CHARLO — The Charlo school district is unique among the county's school districts in that the number of students attending has increased over the past few years, and as a result, the district is examining ways to accommodate next year's expected population.

"We have more than a six percent increase in the number of students coming into the school," Superintendent Wes Young said. "We have a small class of seniors going out and a large class of juniors coming in."

While other districts have faced declining enrollment for the past several years, Charlo's small size continues to be attractive to parents throughout the county. Out-of-district students are a common part of every school district in the county, but some districts attract more students than they lose, and Charlo benefits from that more than most other districts.

Young estimates that about 15-20 percent of Charlo students are from out of the district. The fact that the district is centrally located in the county helps this, as well.

But with those students come growing pains. The district is looking at getting some portable classrooms for the 2006-2007 school year to create smaller class sizes for the more than 30 students in the seventh and eighth grade rooms.

"We are trying to get smaller class sizes in the math and science classes. Other subjects are important as well, but we just have larger numbers in those areas," Young said. "We don't want to have a math class with numbers at that level."

Young would like the students to have the time they need with teachers to get the help that students often do in a subject like math.

Young said it's important to keep smaller student-to-teacher ratios to ensure that students get the proper instruction they need.

One way to accomplish that would be to shuffle the schedule around, as well, Young said.

"We are also talking about going to an eight-period day," Young said.

The increase in students could eventually bump the school up into Class B size, although schools must have a student population that size for three years before they make the jump to a different class.

The school board has also talked about creating a committee to help plan for the academic futures of the students as well as a discussion group for maintenance of the current facilities.