Bobby Ray enrollment climbs

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

COLLIER

Over the past two years, Bobby Ray Elementary School’s enrollment has climbed steadily to over 460, an increase of almost 100 students.

“All of our classrooms are filled and this year we’ve had to combine our guidance and arts and music programs into one room to make room for an additional second grade teacher,” said principal Bonnie Collier.

Since its opening nine years ago Bobby Ray has, for the most part, had a significantly smaller student population than the city’s other two elementary schools, Hickory Creek Elementary and West Elementary, the latter of which has been operating at capacity over the past few years.

In part to prevent overcrowding at West, school officials have allowed open enrollment at Bobby Ray, meaning any student wishing to enroll at the school can do so, provided he had his own transportation if living outside the school’s zone.

Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale noted enrollment at Hickory Creek and West has decreased somewhat over the past two years, resulting in an redistribution of students.

Asked what effect the 45-15 alternative calendar, adopted two years ago, may have had on Bobby Ray’s enrollment increase, Collier said it is difficult to judge. To be sure, she said, it has attracted some students (just as it caused some to leave), but school officials have not determined the actual number.

Bringing close to 30 students to the school this year has been the addition of an English Language Learner (ELL) program to Bobby Ray. Prior to this school year, the school system’s only elementary ELL program has been at Hickory Creek, where all of the county’s ELL population had to attend if they wished to receive special English instruction.

With Bobby Ray’s enrollment climbing, speculation has turned to what will become of the school’s building “C,” or the former junior high ninth-grade building, which contains a number of empty classrooms but has been used only for storage since the elementary school opened in 1994.

The school board has looked at renovating the building several times over the past five or six years, but no major action has been taken to make it suitable for student occupation.

Hale said the future of the building would be addressed in a system-wide, long-range facilities plan to be contracted out later this summer.