Future FHS student size set

December 19, 2008 · By Wiff Rightly · 4 Comments

3,000. No, it’s not a sequel to the hugely successful film, 300. It’s today’s headline in the NWA Times and the student target size for the future FHS campus.

Yesterday, the Fayetteville School Board voted on setting 3,000 as the future FHS student target size once the 40-acre campus is completely revamped.

Currently, FHS has 2,422 students enrolled from grades 9-12.

Associate Superintendent Ginny Wisema said that FHS is losing, on average, 6 students a year and that by 2012, the school will have 2,368 students enrolled. However, with larger enrollments in kindergarten and other lower grades, it appears as though that trend could be bucked in the coming years. One way or the other, district officials estimate that the high school should have no capacity issues until 2024-2025.

The Fayetteville School Board has been going through the motions over the who’s, what’s, where’s and how’s of building a new facility for nearly two years now. Only recently did they decide to stay put on the current FHS campus and not build elsewhere. It took a long time to reach that point, but now that it’s been settled, we’re seeing a lot more forward momentum from the school board. Recently, Fayetteville School Board Employees have been sent on field trips to various facilities around the country to scout out and report on new information and ideas for the future FHS facility.

Now we’re to the point where we’re deciding student size, beginning to analyze the parking situation, looking into the possiblity of closing Stone Street and discussing which parts of the current FHS builing might be worth keeping.

Moving forward is good… and with a opening the new facility for the 2012 school year, it’s certaily the best direction to be heading.

[Via NWA Times]

[Photo by Larry Ash of the U of A's Arkansas Traveler. Check out The Arkansas Traveler online for more...]

On a side note: I wonder how many students are wondering/worrying if they’ll take away the off-campus lunch privelage once the high school has a state-of-the-art dining hall? Lord know that I’d be freaked out about it if I was going to be an FHS student in 2012. Off-campus lunches were the best.