Feeling the Crunch: Franke Park Uses Every Available Square Inch of Space

By Ese Isiorho, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Jun. 5–With teachers holding class underneath staircases and students doing homework in the hallways, there’s no doubt Franke Park Elementary School is short on space.

“I really think the community needs to come in to some of the public schools and see what we have to deal with every day,” said Jim Emmerson, Franke Park’s principal. “Space is the No. 1 issue for us.”

When Emmerson became the school’s principal 10 years ago, about 490 students were enrolled. Today, he and his staff struggle to find space for about 616 students.

“Because of the lack of classroom space, we have had to put all of our art, music, PE (physical education) and reading research teachers on a cart,” Emmerson said. “One group established a makeshift classroom under a staircase,” he said referring to the school’s English as a Second Language program.

If Fort Wayne Community Schools’ $500 million building project moves forward, Franke Park would receive additional kindergarten, special education, art and music space in 2009. But with full-day kindergarten a possibility as soon as this fall, the school needs more immediate attention.

“That’s why we have two (mobile) classrooms going in there this summer,” said Steve Parker, FWCS’ facilities director, who said most of the district’s elementary schools will have to relinquish art and music classrooms to accommodate full-day kindergarten programs. “A school like Franke Park already had that concept going.”

Evert Mol, head of Code Blue Schools, the group opposing the district’s building project, says if schools need more space for kindergarten, they should get it.

“I don’t have a problem with a lot of the individual parts of the project if it’s necessary, but a lot of it is still not necessary,” said Mol, who said FWCS is taking a risk by lumping space for full-day kindergarten in with the rest of its building plan.

“They are taking a chance for having a remonstrance and losing it all,” he said.

A petition drive for the building project began Friday and lasts until July 2. If proponents collect more signatures, the plan can move forward. If opponents collect more, FWCS must wait at least a year before presenting a significantly different plan as required by state law.

Franke Park has four half-day kindergarten classes — two in the morning and two in the afternoon. If full-day kindergarten is implemented this fall, Emmerson estimates he will have to find classroom space for 60 additional students.

“We don’t have any classrooms left for us to accommodate full-day kindergarten,” he said.

Some of the older students will move outside into the two mobile classrooms, leaving more room indoors for the kindergartners.

FWCS used mobile units at Study Elementary School this year, and they were well-received, Parker said. “Students and teachers really liked that because it was different.”

Northwest Allen County Schools is also looking to add mobile classrooms this fall.

Franke Park’s space issues have been ongoing for about two years, said Emmerson, who attributes them to the school’s location on Mildred Avenue. “It’s good, safe living and people move into our area,” he said.

English as a Second Language students, who account for about 16 percent of the school’s enrollment, also are brought into the Franke Park area by Catholic Charities.

“It’s a strong neighborhood school,” Parker said. “They have a popular (ESL) program.”

While the school’s growth seems to have leveled off, Parker said district administrators need to plan for the future.

“Both Study and Franke Park are short-term solutions to a long-term project,” he said.

If supporters of the district’s building plan defeat the remonstrance, the current building at Study will be demolished and replaced on-site. Franke Park would get a new boiler and windows this summer before expansion work begins in 2009.

“When you’re teaching out in the hallway … with all the noise, it’s not education at its best,” Emmerson said. “It’s bound to affect the students and particularly the teachers.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

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