AMARILLO, TEXAS -- There seems to be no moratorium on overcrowding in Amarillo schools.
Humphrey's Highland, Hamlet, and Mesa Verde elementary schools are all on the Amarillo Independent School District's (AISD) radar for not having enough space.
Portable classrooms on campuses are an all-too-common sight, and AISD officials said they are a great short-term solution for placing students when there is any sort of increase in enrollment.
However, when a campus has three or four of them, AISD staff said they start to look at more permanent solutions.
"Once elementary schools get to that point where they have 2 to 3 portables we look and see what's going on at that school," said Holly Shelton, AISD communications director.
That's just what AISD is doing at Humphrey's Highland Elementary. That school has six portables, the most any school in the entire district has.
"We have seen growth in the last seven years which is sustained growth, so we're tight on space," said Humphrey's Highland principal Debby Rutherford.
The growth is so sustained that it has about 50 new students every year.
The school has six portables, which equals 12 classrooms, and 22 students can fit in each one.
That means about one-third of students are going to classes in the portables.
The principal said the portables are not an inconvenience, and everyone is already used to them as part of the campus, but did say it would be nice to have everyone under one roof.
"I would hope that we could get all the kids into one building. That would be great if that's possible," said Rutherford.
It is a possibility that could happen eventually, but it will take time.
"It's something that's on our radar that we are watching and we started developing some plans and looking options of what to do," Shelton said.
Those plans do include a new building that may cost $7 million.
But AISD officials did say it would take a few years. First they would have to access what each school needs, approve the plans, then start construction.
