Sep 29, 2008 - 04:05:24 CDT
MINOT (AP) - The boom in northwestern North Dakota's oil patch is filling small schools with students, but the rising enrollment is accompanied by some growing pains."Stanley's at a unique size," said Kelly Koppinger, school superintendent in the northwestern North Dakota town. "We're at that size where we have to consider splitting classrooms ... if we were a little bit smaller, it wouldn't be a problem for us and if we were a little bit bigger it wouldn't be a problem for us."
The student body in Stanley has jumped about 8 percent, from 369 in grades K-12 last fall to 396 this year. The school district hired four additional teachers and three more teacher's aides. Additional staff such as kitchen help and maintenance workers also was needed.
Koppinger said the extra numbers are welcome, but the revenue the school district has coming in doesn't match its expenditures. He wants state legislators to consider restructuring the funding formula for school districts in counties impacted by the oil fields.
Williston, the largest school in the oil patch, has picked up about 85 new students in grades K-12, said business manager Connie Blatherwick. She said the district has not had to hire new teachers, but some teachers at the high school are teaching an extra class period and being paid more.
Some schools are seeing an increase in students but not as big as the jumps in Stanley and Williston.
Gary Wilz, superintendent in Killdeer, said there has been a slight increase there and "We can obviously handle more kids."
Watford City Superintendent Steve Holen said his district has picked up about 56 new students but also has lost some, for a net gain of about 10 students.
"We hope it's a recurring trend," he said. "It's been a while since our district has been increasing in numbers."
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