Batavia schools see slight growth

Enrollment at Rotolo Middle School jumped 8 percent this year, but Batavia high school and elementary enrollments remained almost the same.

The Batavia school board heard its sixth-day enrollment figures, which are reported to the state, Tuesday night.

Overall, it only adds up to a 1.84 percent district enrollment increase -- from 6,154 students last year to 6,267 students this year.

Although it's a fair increase for the middle school, it's nothing compared with the grades coming up, said Al McCloud, assistant superintendent for elementary education. Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade classes all top 500 students.

Other grade levels range from 423 to 494 students.

More sections will be added at the middle school next year to accommodate those students, Superintendent Jack Barshinger said.

Both Grace McWayne and Louise White elementary schools have far more classes over the district's recommended sizes than the other elementary schools.

They have 10 and nine class sections, respectively, over the district's targeted class sizes. No other elementary school has more than three sections over the recommended size -- 22 for kindergarten through second grade and 26 for third through fifth grades.

McCloud said McWayne will pick up at least two additional classrooms next year when the early childhood center moves to Alice Gustafson. But the situation also will likely require boundary changes, he said.

Barshinger agreed, but said any boundary changes would need to be a long-term solution that wouldn't be changed often.

School officials predicted the district would grow between 1 percent and 1.5 percent each year for the next five years, and that the high school could hit 2,000 students by then.