Oak Park : Board Approves Portable Classrooms

The Oak Park school board has approved placing portable classrooms at Oak Hills Elementary School in an effort to temporarily ease crowding.

Under the plan approved 3 to 2 by the Oak Park Unified School District board this week, Oak Hills will get two to four more portable classrooms by fall, said Harriett Ramsey, executive assistant to the superintendent of schools.

The members who voted against the proposal, Wayne Blasman and Pat Kavulic, sought to delay the decision to allow more time for public input, Ramsey said.

The number of students in the district has been increasing by 13% annually, Supt. Susan Hearn said. The greatest growth is occurring at Oak Hills, located in the most recently developed neighborhood where most newcomers are moving.

Oak Hills was built for 450 students but currently has 542 students and only two portable classrooms, Hearn said. The district’s other elementary school, Brookside, has 485 students. Enrollment there is expected to reach the planned capacity next fall, she said.

Some parents at Tuesday’s meeting said that Oak Hills’ lunchroom, playground and other facilities are not big enough for the number of students at the school. The district is in the process of picking a site for a third elementary school, which it hopes to have built by September, 1993, Hearn said.

At its March 24 meeting, the board is expected to consider measures that may slow enrollment growth at Oak Hills, including allowing students to transfer voluntarily to Brookside, Hearn said.