Monday, October 12, 2009

22 Mesa Public Schools have less than 80 percent capacity

It has been known for awhile that enrollment was down in many of Mesa's schools, but we were surprised to see that there are 22 schools at 80 percent or less of student capacity. Here is the list of schools:

Elementary
Brinton; Irving; Whittier; Hale; Pomeroy; Lincoln; Frost; Jefferson; Bush; Roosevelt; Jordan; Franklin-West; Guerrero

Junior High
Carson; Smith; Brimhall; Rhodes; Powell; Mesa; Hendrix

High school
Skyline and Westwood

Mesa Public Schools is going to face some real challenges in their efforts to diversify and modernize the school system. Although these schools may not be near capacity, they are still home to the 80% or less in the area who attend these schools and count on being able to send their child to a nearby location. A delicate balance between reform and remaining accessible must be found.

1 comment:

Heath Reed said...

I think this capacity issue shows that the system needs to improve. People are also leaving the city and or others are sending their children to charter schools. I do think the lower teacher to student ration is important and I think this will allow to have flexible space if MPS moves forward with a new approach to education.

Thing is, we have thought we had to build our schools so big that now we have empty schools. I think if we would have thought about smaller schools that serve smaller populations would have been more affective with a shifting population and competition. I understand why they did what they did, but think they are too big. But this can be an opportunity for the school system to rethink the academic space they have and how to effectively use it. Low capacity at this time could be a blessing in disguise for MPS.