Officials from the Sunnyvale School District and the city discovered this on June 1 when residents failed to attend a meeting to discuss how the district will juggle its growing population.

While other districts in the area have shuttered schools due to declining enrollment, a study conducted by the city and school district finds that the Sunnyvale district could face the opposite problem.

The study predicts that the district will need a new middle school and possibly an elementary school to handle a projected growth of 448 to 1,093 middle school students and 246 to 1,141 elementary school students.

The study weighs several options for finding space for this influx of students.

For instance, existing facilities could be expanded or boundaries could be redrawn to distribute students to other schools.

On the other hand, the study reports that opening a new school could be tricky. Three former school sites are leased to private schools, and the district owns the property used by Plaza Del Rey Mobile Homes. Converting any of these sites to operating schools would be less costly than acquiring new land. However, reusing the property would strain the district's general fund, lose revenue and could reduce program offerings. Using Plaza Del Rey would also displace mobile home residents.

The report concluded that acquiring new land could prove even more challenging. There are no vacant properties large enough to accommodate a school, which means the district would have to invoke eminent domain, to take over private property and compensate the owners. This could likely displace businesses and residents.

Another option is to break up the school year so groups of children attend for different but overlapping portions of the year. However, the report considers this the least desirable option because these programs hinder academic performance.

The study also looks at ways to fund the building of a new school. The district could put a parcel tax measure on the ballot, or the school board could authorize developer fees.

A 20-acre, 1000-student middle school would cost about $13.5 million for construction alone.

The district and city plan to hold another meeting on June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Sunnyvale School District, 819 W. Iowa Ave. For more information, visit www.sesd.org or phone 408.522.8200.

The issue will go before the Sunnyvale City Council on July 9 at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 465 W. Olive Ave.