San Carlos School District looking to expand

San Carlos' four elementary, one charter and two middle schools are getting so crowded that a new campus may be needed, district Superintendent Craig Baker said last Monday.

"They are slightly over the capacity," Baker said. "Our kindergarten classes keep getting higher every year and it's been that way for the last seven years. It's a trend that doesn't seem to be going away."

Baker will discussed the San Carlos School District's space needs at a meeting last week with two city council and two school board members. Talk of a new campus is preliminary, he said, noting that no site has been chosen, no potential funding sources identified and no grade levels determined.

But Baker acknowledged that the city's eastern side would be a logical location for a new school, if a site is available.

"Where is there land in a small town like this?" he said. "We'll have to see."

That's one reason the district is bringing the question of a new campus to the city-school committee. If the city has some available land, Baker suggested, maybe a building could be constructed and shared by a school and city parks and recreation facility.

He said the district may eventually ask voters to approve a bond measure or parcel tax to pay for a new school.

"That's certainly an option," Baker said. "But we're not at that stage of the process yet."

Next year the district will have more than 3,200 students in schools ideally designed for 2,600,

---

said Seth Rosenblatt, vice president of the school board.

"It appears we're victims of our own success," Rosenblatt said.

"The school district has done a good job and the city has become that much more desirable for young families."

The district's Academic Performance Index, or API, score is an enviable 899 out of 1,000, 99 points above the state goal. The API number is well-known to parents -- and the real estate agents trying to sell home buyers on San Carlos.

While schools are crowded, class sizes are still manageable, Baker said. Kindergarten through third- grade classes are capped at 24 students, fourth grade at 28 and middle school classes at 32, he said.

But that could change, he said, noting that over-enrollment also crowds out opportunities for programs such as music and physical education.

"You need the space to provide that kind of well-rounded education," he said.