Interim Superintendent Michael Stevens told school trustees Wednesday that severe overcrowding at Marcy Elementary — and the same problem to a lesser degree at Kentwood and Moss elementaries — have caused officials to scramble to find classroom space for those students.

To relieve the situation, officials will transfer 70 students from Marcy to Bauer Elementary on the north side of Big Spring. Also, some students will likely be transferred from Kentwood and Moss schools to Washington in the near future.

Stevens said three factors — recent enrollment growth, outdated attendance zone maps and a state-mandated 22-to-1 student/teacher ratio in the elementary grades — have combined to cause the current problem.

After more than a decade of steady decline, enrollment began moving upward again about three years ago, with the trend being heaviest in the elementary grades.

Earlier this week, officials reported 2,159 elementary students enrolled in classes, an increase of 144 from the same time last year.

The problem is most acute at Marcy, which is figuratively bursting at the seams with 537 students, while Bauer, in contrast, has two classrooms standing vacant.

The problem is less severe at Kentwood and Moss, but Stevens said some students at those campuses will be transferred to Washington to bring the classes in line with mandated student/teacher ratios.

Transferring the students will alleviate the problem for now, but Stevens said other steps will have to be taken in the future.

“The elementary problem is not going to go away,” he said. “We need to redraw the attendance zones and do whatever it takes to solve this problem.

“We're hoping we don't get a big influx of students,” he added. “But if we do, we'll deal with it.”

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331 ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it