By LESTER CHANG
The Fremont Union High School District, in its continuing efforts to provide a quality education to its students, wants to prevent overcrowding at its five high schools.
The district also wants to meet student demand for more science classes at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino in order to prepare them for the high-tech world of the 21st century.
These were two key requests the district presented to the FUHSD board of trustees at its meeting on Feb. 13.
The proposal, if implemented, would spread out any growth in student population to at least four of the five high schools in the district and help smooth the day-to-day operations of the district, officials said.
The board took no action on the proposal and asked the district to come up with plans to address crowding in the future.
The district now has about 8,000 students and is projected to have more than 10,000 students within the next 10 years. The growth will come from higher employment, parents wanting to enroll students in the district, and new home construction, said Joe Hamilton, associate superintendent of admin- istrative services.
Monta Vista High, currently with 1,900 students, is projected to grow to 2,200 students by the year 2000, according to district reports. The school can actually accommodate 2,300 students, but having that many would compromise class sizes and tax the use of facilities, Hamilton said.
Hence, the district is proposing to allow students who are eligible to attend Monta Vista to go to Homestead, Cupertino and Lynbrook high schools. The three schools are near Monta Vista.
To further cope with crowding at Monta Vista, the district proposes to install portable rooms, Hamilton said. And to meet demand for science classes, the district wants to establish an additional daily period for science instruction.
The district would need approval from the Fremont Education Association to carry out the plan, because the period would begin before the start of a school day, he said.
The school had its science facilities expanded three years ago. The work involved installing sinks, ventilation hoods and other equipment. However, the facilities are now inadequate because more students, eager to prepare for future jobs in science and computers, have flooded the classes, school officials said.
While the problem temporarily exists at Monta Vista, Hamilton said, the district has adequately expanded science facilities at Cupertino, Lynbrook, Fremont and Homestead schools.
Fremont High School also has a new science building, and science facilities are under construction at Homestead School. On another matter, one or two rooms will be added at Monta Vista should there be a greater demand for art classes, Hamilton said.
The district also plans to head off crowding at Lynbrook, which has about 1,400 students, by using three more rooms in the 1996-97 school year. Adult-education students currently using the space would be relocated to portable rooms, he said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 21, 1996.
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