Overcrowding reported at Overbrook Elementary - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

Overcrowding at Overbrook Elementary in Charleston has become overwhelming, according to parents.

"Overbrook has more kids than it can handle in Kindergarten, second grade and fourth grade," said Eugenie Taylor, the president of the Overbrook PTO. "In order for them to do their job, we have to limit the number of kids who are allowed to enter Overbrook. "

A Kindergarten class at Overbrook serves 32 students. It's overlooked by a teacher and an aide. But the student to teacher ratio should be 20 to 1 for Kindergarten classes, according to a study by the American Federation of Teachers.

"There are people being people dropped off at the school that don't live in the school district, so I think that number is higher than people realize," said David

Fenwick, whose children attend Overbrook Elementary. "I think some people candidly fabricate they have an address in the area."

The superintendent agreed that overcrowding has become a problem at the school.

"I think it's a problem in general because there's a lot of people moving to the area in general," said Dr. Ron Deurring, the superintendent of the Kanawha County School Board. "We're going to have a long-term solution."

That means redistricting. A controversial topic that he said would take at least a year to solve.

"People are resistant to change when they feel the change is being forced on them," Taylor said.

She said she's on board with redistricting talks because children in overcrowded classrooms eventually grow up, causing the problem to overflow into middle and high school classrooms.

Taylor added that redistricting discussions between parents and the administration should last at least a year because everyone needs time to discover the fairest options available.

"But then at some point the decision is made and people have to live with it," she said.

The PTO president also the school board has been very willing to let Overbrook students transfer to less crowded schools. But in many cases, these volunteers lose the option of free bussing.

Deurring said that administrators were considering adding another teacher to the Kindergarten class at Overbrook. He said a decision could be made as early as Monday.