JACKSON, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole High School (JHHS) is requesting State funding in order to address its growing student population.
According to Gillian Chapman, Superintendent for Teton County School District (TCSD) No. 1, the increasing numbers of students and the high-school’s out-dated and limited infrastructure has impacted school curriculum and students’ ability to learn.
By TCSD’s calculations, over a 10 year period, there were 1,000 housing units built in Teton County and the district experienced an increase of approximately 400 students during this period. Using their calculation, and the fact that local housing data shows that there will be an estimated 1,000 new units in 2024, an increase of 400 students is expected, compared to the previously referenced 10 year period. Those 1,000 units do not include housing units “in the early planning phases” such as Northern South Park, the Virginian lot, etc.
“As a public school district, we do not have an option to turn away students,” TCSD Executive Director of Communications and District Services Charlotte Reynolds said. “The district is working very hard to anticipate impact but without support from the State, we are limited.”
Chapman told Buckrail that the school’s design, which was completed in 2000, did not anticipate the need for larger classrooms, or the facilities needed for career and technical education. This lack of space leads teachers to get creative, utilizing resources available. Currently, the school’s most popular course, the culinary arts, is forced to meet in a small space in the cafeteria which can only accommodate eight students, with the rest of the students watching along the periphery. The class uses one portable sink and hot plates that are dropped down from the ceiling’s electrical outlets. Due to lack of proper equipment, teachers are unable to teach the entire preparation of foods.
Chapman said the disadvantage becomes evident during culinary competitions with other schools, some of which have more resources available for cooking classes. She compares it to “a food truck competing against a Four Seasons kitchen.”
“The lack of equity with other Wyoming high schools creates a learning deficit for Jackson students,” Chapman said.
Additionally, many classrooms are under-designed, lack adequate space and have been retro-fitted to meet student goals, including science labs, art classrooms, the school’s weight room and career technical education rooms. Chapman explained that a standard school classroom is typically 850 by 900 square feet. While JHHS classrooms range from 700-1000 square feet, several tiny classrooms can only hold 10 students and the larger classrooms are meant for speciality programs that still need additional square footage to effectively provide the program.
According to Reynolds, the high school’s lunch room is now too small for the student body, and kids can be found sitting in hallways and on the floors while eating. Some students skip lunch altogether. The school now offers two lunch periods, after the addition of another lunch was needed to accommodate the increase in the number of students.
The school’s eight-foot-wide hallways are also inadequate for the number of students moving from class to class when the bell rings. In an attempt to alleviate the number of times students have to navigate over-crowded hallways, the school has dropped the number of daily class periods from seven to five.
“The facility is driving programs and the school’s schedule instead of the needs of the students determining the programming,” Chapman said.
JHHS also lacks the staff to support the students because there is no room to hire additional teachers. According to Chapman, TCSD aims for a case load of approximately 120 students per staff member; at JHHS currently, each teacher has 160.
According to the National School Boards Association, when conditions are overcrowded, it’s proven to be detrimental to learning, especially for students who have experienced trauma. Researchers find that overcrowding can reduce students’ ability to pay attention to teachers’ instruction and even increase students’ behavior issues. Teachers are also impacted when they have lack of space to prepare lessons.
To address the building’s space deficiencies, TCSD is working with Dubbe Moulder to design and construct an addition to JHHS that will provide school and community basketball and multi-purpose courts and other sports facilities, funded through the one percent sales tax. The district is currently working with the State to secure funding to repurpose and renovate the existing varsity gym into academic space as soon as the addition is built.
According to Chapman, the State’s process for evaluating a school district’s need for funding, does not consider new housing development. The State takes into consideration birth rates and cohort survival rates or the number of students that retain the following year. She says their formula doesn’t have a predictor for new housing because no other county is growing at the same accelerated rate, which sets the school district at a disadvantage for receiving funding.
“The district must have remedies, otherwise it’s just like a frog boiling,” Chapman said. “The kids are suffering and we need to advocate on their behalf. We are being held to a standard that isn’t adequate or sustainable.”
