In SHS, there is a growing issue. Seriously, it’s growing. It’s the sheer population of our high school. The class of 2022 had 309 students attend school. Compare this to the 2025 class of 475 and you can see that over the past few years, the population has grown exponentially. And that number increases dramatically each year. Last year the current cafeteria and other seating areas could comfortably hold one of our lunches. However this year, not only is the cafeteria packed with students, but the patio and other seating are also at their brink. To combat this, the administration has begun construction work on a new cafeteria and will turn the current one into classrooms. The question still stands though, will it be enough?

Between 2022 and 2025 the freshman class increased by fifty-four percent. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2024-2025. If this trend continues, the freshman class of ’25 will be 732 students. Seven hundred thirty-two. That’s with current statistics. The chance that one of these classes is a drastic bump up is significantly high, due to the economy and population of Seymour. By 2030, the problem we currently face will be back in full swing, and worse. Soon, thanks to the area the school is built in, we will run out of free space on school property and have to shut down classrooms to add more floors. So how can we fry this bird?

Well, we’ve come up with two probable solutions, and one non-traditional solution. Our non-traditional solution is simply to..cull the herd if you will. Remove those that are lesser, to make room for the superior. However, this is not allowed. It would go very poorly in court, and not to mention that it’s a joke. It is a joke. Please understand this is a joke. Apart from that, two solutions.

Solution A: Create a second set of classes in the P.M. Instead of funneling resources into construction, funnel those same resources into paying more teachers that would work after 4 P.M. This would allow more students to come in, while also not requiring more resources. The con to this is that classes would run from 4-11 P.M. so it would likely only be available to upperclassmen, and only those with transportation. Logistically, this would be difficult, but, then again, we live in Seymour.

Solution B: Create a fully online learning program for students opting into it. This would be different from e-learning in the sense that it does not just give assignments. It has videos and demonstrations and all these different things that allow students to have a full school experience while remaining at home. The con to this would be well… It’s at home. I’m sure many of you did nothing during all the e-learning days of early covid because I didn’t either. There would have to be parental guidance or students would just have to be motivated to do it.

In either scenario, guinea pig volunteer students would be necessary. Logistically, financially, and legally I’m not sure how this would all work out. However, these are solutions. These would work long-term. These are not the only fixes, but they do work. Think about them.