Hollister
– When the bell rings to end the school day, thousands of San
Benito High School students swarm out of every exit, crowding the
sidewalks and the streets, which are clogged with traffic every
afternoon.
Hollister – When the bell rings to end the school day, thousands of San Benito High School students swarm out of every exit, crowding the sidewalks and the streets, which are clogged with traffic every afternoon.
Enrollment at San Benito High School, which already looms at nearly 3,000 students, has stretched resources. And the school may have to stretch those resources even further as Hollister prepares to grow again for the first time since the state put a moratorium on new sewer connections in 2002.
Administrators at the high school are working on plans for how they will address the influx of new students expected to move to Hollister in the coming years after the moratorium is lifted and home construction in Hollister resumes.
The school’s director of finance and operations, Jim Koenig, said he expects the school will reach its enrollment capacity at around 3,200 students – only about 200 more than its current student population.
Hollister city planners are expecting to allow about 350 residential units to be built each year once the moratorium is lifted. Koenig said they estimate this will result in around 60 more students a year for the high school.
This could mean San Benito High School will reach its maximum enrollment four years from now.
“We have to be prepared for when it’s over, and make sure we’re looking to the future,” SBHS Superintendent Stan Rose said.
The high school’s administration, which is working in cooperation with administrators from Hollister School District and the San Benito County Office of Education, is still in the planning stages of addressing the expected growth.
But while administrators are still addressing long-range predictions about how the growth will occur, one of the primary questions remains: Will Hollister need a second high school?
This question will need to be addressed, both by administrators and the larger community, within the next few years.
Koenig said a key decision will have to be made between building a second high school or building onto the existing high school.
“We need to develop a sense with the community of what direction they want to go in,” Koenig said. “Some people can’t conceive of a Hollister with two high schools. Others think it’s already too big. We need to get a better idea of what people want.”
Audra Doty, a 15-year-old freshman at SBHS, said she already thinks the school’s size is overwhelming.
“It’s so crowded. I have 42 kids in my drama class – that’s just huge. They should build a second high school,” Doty said.
Her friend, sophomore Anthony Huertas, 16, agreed. He said that the size of classes could make it difficult for teachers to teach and students to learn.
“The only problem would be the conflict between sports. Our track team? We need 100 kids, and we’d only have 50,” Huertas said.
Koenig said administrators are still trying to get a grasp on how exactly the coming growth will affect the school. He said he expects the planning process will last at least six more months.
“We’re in the process of getting a demographic study launched to identify what exactly the growth patterns are going to be; then we need to do a need assessment based on our current capacity,” Koenig said.
He said administrators also need to assess whether the community would support a bond for a new high school or just improvements on the current one.
“It’s going to take money, so we need to find out what the city would support,” Koenig said.
Koenig said administrators have plans to work with city officials to make sure they are considering the effect on the school’s population with the lifting of the moratorium.
“We need to make sure that everyone understands that schools are an important consideration,” Koenig said.
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or at [email protected].
