Large classes and small classrooms aging

The Havre Public School system released the enrollment numbers for this school year at Tuesday night's Board of Trustees meeting. The total numbers — 1,890 kindergarten through 12th-grade students — have remained fairly steady with previous years, though there are larger incoming classes at Havre High School, Havre Middle School and Highland Park Early Primary School.

The largest class size is that of Havre High's incoming freshman. With 175 students, the freshman class now represents more than 30 percent of that school's student body.

The current senior class has 121 students and next year's freshman class, this year's eighth-grade, is the smallest with only 110 students.

After that the seventh-grade class jumps to 143 students and enrollment numbers stay close to that figure through the rest of the schools.

At Havre Middle School, the new sixth-grade students outnumber the eighth-graders on the way out by nearly 50 students.

From the sixth-grade's 159 students to the kindergarten's 155, all of the primary school classes are in the 150-student range.

The large class sizes have raised space concerns with Superintendent Andy Carlson, members of the Board of Trustees and the Havre Education Association. It was these same concerns about lack of space that brought about last year's renovation of Highland Park Primary School.

Now the students that needed that space are making their way through the rest of the schools. Class size is growing. Available space is shrinking.

Carlson said that, as great as Highland Park looks now, there has to be a plan for the other schools.

"Our buildings and our infrastructure are old," Carlson said. "These are things that need to be strongly considered."

The Havre Public School system released the enrollment numbers for this school year at Tuesday night's Board of Trustees meeting. The total numbers — 1,890 kindergarten through 12th-grade students — have remained fairly steady with previous years, though there are larger incoming classes at Havre High School, Havre Middle School and Highland Park Early Primary School.

The largest class size is that of Havre High's incoming freshman. With 175 students, the freshman class now represents more than 30 percent of that school's student body.

The current senior class has 121 students and next year's freshman class, this year's eighth-grade, is the smallest with only 110 students.

After that the seventh-grade class jumps to 143 students and enrollment numbers stay close to that figure through the rest of the schools.

At Havre Middle School, the new sixth-grade students outnumber the eighth-graders on the way out by nearly 50 students.

From the sixth-grade's 159 students to the kindergarten's 155, all of the primary school classes are in the 150-student range.

The large class sizes have raised space concerns with Superintendent Andy Carlson, members of the Board of Trustees and the Havre Education Association. It was these same concerns about lack of space that brought about last year's renovation of Highland Park Primary School.

Now the students that needed that space are making their way through the rest of the schools. Class size is growing. Available space is shrinking.

Carlson said that, as great as Highland Park looks now, there has to be a plan for the other schools.

"Our buildings and our infrastructure are old," Carlson said. "These are things that need to be strongly considered."