by Chris Mohr |

At least 1,800 students roam the hallways each day at Liberty High School. Come August of 2013, those numbers will be increased.
“The main reason for moving ninth graders is to relieve overcrowding at the middle level. It also would allow us to get back to a feeder system in which there are more clearly defined and easily understood attendance patterns for our students,” Superintendent of Schools Mike Brewer said.
Liberty Middle School, South Valley Middle School, Liberty Junior High and South Valley Junior High will all be converted into true middle schools containing students from grades sixth, seventh and eighth. Although space may seem like an issue at the high school level, plans are being created to alleviate it.
“If the bond passes on November 8, I do not anticipate a heavy reliance on modular classrooms at the high school level. We will construct additional space at both high schools to accommodate the increased number of students,” Brewer said.
But some high school students think otherwise about the space constraint.
“There’s obviously not enough room in the school considering we have learning pods already. There’s not enough classroom space as well as hall space. Passing periods are already nearly impossible to get through,” junior Kathrine Kuhlmann said.
For other students, it is not about the space, they have concerns about the maturity of ninth grade students.
“I don’t think this is a good idea because I know when I was a freshman I wasn’t ready to be thrown into the high school. I think the junior high is a great transition into high school. It’s intimidating to go to school with kids a lot older than you and when you’re in the junior high you don’t have to worry about that,” senior Rachel Hain said.
Although this will not be affecting the senior class, it will affect the sophomore class.
“As a student who was in junior high at the time of the split, I think that having the freshman at the high school would make some things a whole lot easier. I played a sport in 9th grade and had to take the shuttle bus here every day for practices and games. Practice would always start late because they were waiting for the junior high students to get here,” sophomore Kelsey Neth said.
With adding another grade, space will be an issue, but LPS is devising a plan to make it all work out.
“At some point in the future a third high school will be needed; however, we can utilize flexible scheduling and on-line courses to extend the time that the two high schools will accommodate our student population,” Brewer said.