By Stacy Winstryg
Vail is booming! Houses are popping up in every corner of the district. The economy is doing well and people are flocking to the Vail School District because of our excellent reputation for an A+ education. Roads are being improved and businesses are coming to accommodate the growth. But what about our schools?
If you have children in the high schools, you have probably noticed the overcrowding that is already occurring. Cienega was built for 1600 and now holds 2200. Empire was built for 750 students and currently holds 850. Andrada is also over capacity and VAHS only has room for 7 more students. While the district can add a classroom here and there, the common areas like the cafeterias and the libraries were not built to absorb the overcrowding.
Cienega was just approved for 3 new teacher positions because of the huge class sizes, but they are unable to hire them because there is not one place available to add any new classrooms at the school. Libraries have been converted to makeshift classrooms, teacher workrooms have been converted to classrooms, and cafeterias are full of kids sitting on the floors. This is the current situation, with the extra students flooding into the district, the crowding will become more of an issue.
Every school in the district will be facing these issues. No school is immune to the growth because eventually boundaries will shift to help alleviate some of the stress that the growth is causing. We need new schools now! We are projected to enroll an additional 400 high school students by 2020.
This decision is a community decision. It is not political, it is an investment in our community and in our children. Please join the Vail Parent Network and Citizens of Vail for Education for a community event to talk about the growth in Vail and Prop 468.
Community Town Hall
Monday, September 17th, 6pm
Empire Dining Auditorium