Modular Classrooms
Posted by fabgram on 11 April 2007
Portables Could Provide Relief
By Brent Schanding
April 11, 2007
Portable classrooms may be necessary to alleviate a swell in projected student populations, according to Kerry Whitehouse, assistant superintendent of operations for Shelby County Schools.
In a memo to board of education members released Thursday, Whitehouse said it could be more than three years before a permanent student facility is built. So the addition of four portable units — that would provide eight additional classrooms — could offer temporary relief to crowded high school students.
“We’re very comfortable this will help absorb this growth for the next three years,” Whitehouse said.
More permanent relief will come from a forthcoming campus development on Ardmore Lane, which will house a new district high school, in addition to middle and elementary schools. Tentative plans call for the new high school to be ready by 2010, with construction of other schools to follow.
“With the construction we should get relief enough where we can remove the portables if they’re not needed in three years,” Whitehouse said.
Whitehouse said portables could be set up at the west end of the school or near the school’s music wing. The board still has to approve the use of portables.
The units, similar to modular homes, have previously been leased at East Middle and other schools in the district to address crowding concerns.
