Clayton Schools may soon consider redistricting to address rapid population growth on the county’s south end.
Superintendent Anthony Smith told the county board of education this week that officials are looking in the coming years to develop 100 acres it owns in Clayton’s southern “panhandle” to meet the demand of residents moving in the area.
Otherwise, the county may have to shuffle students around to keep existing schools from becoming overburdened.
“We’re going to be confronted in probably a year or two with a decision to either build something new down there that speaks to an elementary, middle and high school or do some significant redistricting,” Superintendent Anthony Smith said.
“In some pockets the growth is slow or none at all,” he said of the county. “In others it’s high, like in the panhandle.”
The district of about 50,000 students — the sixth largest in the state — is on a building and renovation spree, with several new buildings under construction or in the planning stages and existing structures getting modern updates.
That has led to questions about which school level is in the most need of construction and whether the district should consider building vertically.
Board members said middle schools, for instance, may need more attention because overcrowding in some buildings.
“It seems to me nobody is thinking about the middle schools,” said Jessie Goree, the board’s chairwoman. “Eddie White (Middle Academy) has been overcapacity since it opened.”
Board member Mark Christmas also pushed for the district to look at adding floors to its traditional design of one-level buildings.
“Are we building buildings with the capacity to go up?” he asked Ronick Joseph, the school system’s director of construction, referring specifically to the renovation of Lovejoy High School.
Joseph said yes and that Lovejoy, which is adjacent to developable land owned by the district, is getting a two-story addition as part of its renovations.
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