The Hollister School District’s student population is expected to increase by 1,000 students by 2019, and a consultant contended it points to the need for new schools.
The projected growth caused a representative of Davis Demographics & Planning, Inc., the firm that created the district’s most recent demographic report, to suggest building new schools or adjusting school boundaries when she spoke to trustees at the April 26 board meeting.
“Your previous projections have been very close, like two or three students off what your projection was, so I think it’s good, solid data,” said Trustee Pat Moore, in a recording of the meeting.
The district received its latest demographic study from Davis Demographics & Planning, Inc. last week. The report projects about 4,000 new residential homes built in the next seven years, said Christy Jacobs, a project manager for the firm.
Most of those—or 2,400 residences—will go up in the next few years, Jacobs said.
“So the district really might want to take a look at possibly opening some new schools or making some boundary re-alignments to address this upcoming residential possible population,” she said.
As early as this fall, the firm projected the district would have 277 more students than it did at the start of this school year, according to the report. That would bring the district’s total number of students to 5,922 students, according to the document.
These districtwide numbers included expected growth for the Hollister Prep School, a charter site that runs within the Hollister School District’s attendance boundaries.
The firm also created projections for individual campuses, with schools increasing in number by 2022 with the exception of Gabilan Hills, R.O. Hardin and Sunnyslope. The population of students was projected to grow most notably at Cerra Vista from 612 students this year to 960 students in 2022.
R.O. Hardin, one of the schools projected to have a smaller number of students than the current population in seven years, shares its campus with the charter Hollister Prep. Gabilan Hills, which is also projected to have fewer students by 2022, shares space with the district’s Hollister Dual Language Academy.
To view the full demographic report, go to the district’s website: hesd.org/school_board.
