WEST BAY — In an effort to relieve overcrowding of Beach area schools, district officials voted to reopen West Bay Elementary in August for the first day of the next school year, but which students will attend will be determined after a series of meetings during the next few months.
Bay District Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt said he will bring a proposal to the School Board in March about handling Beach school overcrowding, with public hearings held on zoning after that. Parents and members of the public will be able to voice concerns at these public hearings.
Rezoning to decide what school students will attend will be determined by software used by Bay District Schools.
Opening West Bay will buy Bay District Schools several years while they work on a long-term overcrowding solution, School Board Chairman Steve Moss said. As a long-term option, Moss said, building a new school is inevitable. Husfelt also has said a new elementary school may have to be built.
Although West Bay is a short-term solution, it won’t solve long-term problems; West Bay is a relatively small building, Moss said.
Last month, the sidewalks were being pressure washed, part of the renovation going on as the campus prepares to reopen. Bay District Schools data specialist Chip Shows was at the campus checking to see what technological data could be recovered from the school, he said.
“It’s in good condition,” School Board member Jerry Register said of West Bay when the decision to reopen it was made.
Bay District Schools closed West Bay in 2009 for financial reasons. The original West Bay building has been around since 1950, former West Bay secretary Betty Joyner said. The school originally was constructed for people in the West Bay area, she said.
Saying West Bay can be a “blank slate,” Moss has talked about working with curriculum officials to make West Bay unlike any elementary in the county. For instance, Moss said West Bay can have a STEM-based curriculum. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math.
By making technology a focal point at the school, Moss said parents would want to send their children there. Maybe every student at the school would have an iPad or laptop, Moss asid.
“That’s where the jobs are,” Moss said of STEM-related careers.