Approximately 250 community members and parents met in the high school theater on Jan. 15 at the first Facility Master Planning Community Meeting to discuss a new housing development that is set to bring growth to the district.

Many community members expressed concerns about the impact the 600 home MI community, located in the southernmost part of Granville, will bring to the already crowded school district.

“This is the first time that we’ve actually had a lot of information to share,” Superintendent Jeff Brown said. “A lot of it was back of the napkin type of conversations about what could be, but once we got that map it was perfectly timed for this conversation because then we could talk specifics about what we were given.”

The strategic planning task force, composed of volunteer community members, has been actively working to not only brace for the impact of the new development but also have been analyzing capacity management within the schools for the past two years.

“We actually have to go back in history and look at the last two years and talk about some of the things that we did as a strategic planning task force to kind of build capacity in order to make really thoughtful and intentional decisions,” Brown said.

With the elementary school at 95% capacity, the school has repurposed space within to accommodate more students. According to teachers, the current capacity management has been very effective in keeping class sizes steady.

“My class sizes have been very consistent the whole time at Granville,” elementary school teacher Dallas Wildman said. “I think the highest number of students I’ve ever had was 23, the lowest was 18. This year I have 21 students, so that’s very average.”

Although the high school is not predicted to sustain as large of an enrollment increase as the elementary, faculty have been actively participating in conversations with the architecture company, Fanning Howey, regarding what they would want to see in new facilities.

“Staff got the opportunity to go and provide input into possible new facilities in the future,” Granville High School Principal Scott Hinton said,

The teachers and faculty remain optimistic and excited about the prospects and potential of a facility and how it could shape a new era of learning.

“It’s hard to squeeze 45 kids in one regular classroom, and so the idea that we could have spaces that would be more flexible and adaptable to that is really exciting to think about,” Wildman said.

As time progresses, Granville will continue to grow and develop from its current state; Granville’s residents and families may continue to share their questions and concerns online or at the Q+A sessions at community meetings. The school district remains positive in its proactive approach to this change to its enrollment, facility and community.

The next Facility Master Planning Community meeting will be on Feb. 25 in the high school theater.