Temporary Solutions
Temporary Solutions that have already been enacted by District 205
Expanded “Early Bird” scheduling and course offerings.
During the 2006-07 school year, we had 285 students start their school day at 6:50 a.m., eat lunch at 9:20 a.m., and be dismissed at 1:44 p.m. This was a voluntary program and was utilized primarily by seniors who could drive themselves to school. This school year the number has jumped to 600.Campus shuttles
Throughout the day, students are shuttled between Central Campus and East Campus to find temporary classroom space.Expanded summer school classes
Expanded summer school classes with free busing have been available. This volunteer program allows students to collect credit and graduate early, thus, freeing up classroom and hallway space during the regular school year. 2005: 522 students, 2006: 765 students (we received a grant to make it free that year, hence the increase), 2007: 644 students, 2008: 619 students“Creative” classroom space
LTHS has utilized the cafeteria, conference rooms, the printing room, a drama dressing room, and a book closet for classroom space. It has not been the optimum academic experience for students, but we have made it work up until now. The staff at Central Campus actually uses one of the larger bathrooms as an office.Temporary classrooms
Trailers have been brought in to East Campus and parked on the grounds to provide extra classroom space. While these trailers provide more space, they raise safety issues during severe (tornado) weather, and cost issues as these trailers have to be rented. (The cost of not building)Extra passing time
Because the hallways are so crowded, we increased the amount of time students have to get to their next class. Currently, they have six minutes, which is quite a long time (if you add the time up per day, it equals a full class period), and it still takes most students every one of those minutes to reach their next class. Some students with extraordinary circumstances are given passes to give them even more time between classes. Also, to keep order in the crowded halls, extra staff is posted, and we installed video surveillance cameras to keep a watchful eye and ensure student safety.Midyear graduation
A formal midyear graduation ceremony was held for about 100 students in January 2007 and 2008 for students who earned enough credits to graduate early. The same will be done for the class of 2009.