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Even though it is at the epicenter of the current boom in
oil and gas drilling, the district itself does not reap any
of the financial benefits of that economic expansion--yet
it is still forced to deal with all the adverse impacts. The
distric'ts student populations grew by 250 over the course
of the last year. If you assume there are an average of 25
students to a class, that is 10 new classes, all requiring
a new classroom--and that's just one year.
A recent demographic report to the county projects that the
district would quadruple in the next 25 years. The district
voters in November 2006 approved a school bond measure to
help address some of these growth needs. However, now the
district is at its bonding limit and will be unable to ask
its voters for additional tax dollars for capital investment
even as the student growth continues unabated.
In addition to the problems related to the enrollment explosion,
the district's current buildings have substantial needs that
run the gamut from heating to wiring to roof repair/replacement
to fire safety and plumbing. One elementary school is built
on an old high school foundation. In the time since the foundation
was originally built, the groundwater has shifted and the
building now sits on top of an underground river. This makes
the foundation and school structure unstable. The roof is
cracked and leaking in part because of the shifting foundation.
The district gets the school inspected every 90 days by structural
engineers to ensure structural integrity and safety. The most
immediate worry is the possibility of the natural gas lines
and the electric lines pulling away from the building. Engineers
estimate the school will not be inhabitable for more than
15 months and the district's back-up plan is to move the elementary
school kids into trailers on the high school campus.
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