Fremont STARS to expand to solve county overcrowding
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on November 30, 2016 9:57 AM
Fremont STARS Elementary School will welcome hundreds of new students next year, as contractors are set to build a number of new classrooms intended to handle an overflow of students from nearby elementary schools.
Wayne County Public Schools superintendent Michael Dunsmore said that Fremont STARS was chosen for the new construction because it is one of the only elementary schools in the county that is not already at capacity or overcrowded.
Two schools primarily aided by the project are Northwest Elementary and Northeast Elementary, both of which have been facing substantial overcrowding issues for years.
According to a WCPS facility needs survey, Northwest Elementary has a maximum student capacity of 478, with a recommended maximum number of 440. The school's enrollment currently sits at 745 students.
The additional over 260 students at Northwest Elementary are housed in 16 modular trailers.
Similarly, Northeast Elementary has a maximum capacity of 572 and a recommended capacity of 526, but houses 664 students with two modular units helping contain the overflow.
Fremont STARS has a maximum capacity of 328, with a recommended maximum of 302. The school has 253 students, meaning there is room for 51 more students -- before renovations.
Sheila Wolfe, Fremont STARS principal, said that she is excited for the new students, but isn't yet aware of specifically how many classrooms will be built. She said it could be anywhere between six and 14, and that the number would depend on estimates from the engineers on how many children could be added to the school without necessitating a complete overhaul of the facility.
"Once you hit a certain number, you need a new cafeteria and a new media center and more," Ms. Wolfe said. "So it's the difference between building a certain number of new classrooms or an entire new building."
The current WCPS plan allows for 22 new classrooms, though Dunsmore said that number would be the absolute upper limit and the real number would be based on contractor estimates.
Ms. Wolfe said that additional students at Fremont STARS will bring both challenges and benefits for the school. Ms. Wolfe is currently the sole administrator at the school -- with more students, she would also get an assistant principal to help coordinate the larger student body. The new classrooms would also need to be staffed, although Ms. Wolfe said those positions might be filled by moving existing personnel as opposed to hiring new teachers.
The school also figures to benefit from increased access to part-time employees, such as the school nurse and guidance counselor, who move between multiple schools and are therefore only available a day or two out of the week. With a larger student body, Ms. Wolfe said, those people will need to be around more often.
As for the difficulties that come with doubling the size of the school, Ms. Wolfe said her primary concern is to make sure that Fremont STARS can maintain a program similar to the one it already has after the new classrooms are filled.
"We do things a bit differently here, particularly with our integration of the arts," she said. "Our goal is to make sure we can maintain that uniqueness with the larger size. I'm a firm believer that what goes on here can continue to go on."
According to the facility needs survey, the projected cost of the additions is $4.6 million, money which the Wayne County commissioners approved as part of a $28 million facilities plan in June. Fremont STARS is priority two in that plan, behind the construction of a new Meadow Lane Elementary which constitutes the bulk of the plan's budget. Dunsmore said he hopes to see the project completed in either May or June of next year. The facility needs survey also included the renovation or replacing of the Fremont STARS main building, but costs or a timeline on that project have not yet been determined.