By Meredith Canales
Contributing Writer

With overcrowding, a lack of teachers and construction of new schools all issues, Northside Independent School District has many obstacles in its way when the new school year begins on Aug. 27.

“Northwest San Antonio is the destination for over one half of all of the people who are purchasing homes in Bexar County,” said NISD Executive Director of Communications Pascual Gonzalez. “They want to live in Northwest San Antonio, and they want their children to attend Northside schools.”

In terms of student enrollment, Northside ISD is the largest school district in San Antonio and the fifth largest in the state. Although the housing and employment boom in Northwest San Antonio has caused many issues for NISD, top officials for the district have the ultimate confidence that not only this school year, but the next several, will be successful ones. With three new schools opening this year, and several more to follow, Superintendent John Folks said all new growth thus far has the green light.

“The new schools are on schedule to open,” he said in his report at the July board meeting, “Two of them, Jefferson and Aue, have furniture and computers and everything being installed. I believe next week Driggers, too, installing furniture and so forth,” he added, referencing the new middle school and the two new elementary schools.

Gonzalez reinforced Folks’ statement regarding the timeline of the school openings, adding that there were a couple of exceptions because of outside forces.

“Our new school projects are on schedule with the exception of playgrounds and parking lots and those kinds of features because the rain has prevented us from finishing out those particular parts of the schools,” he explained. “Staff is already moving in and preparing for students.”

At the July 24 school board meeting, Folks explained the effect the weather has had on the outside areas of the new school buildings.

But the weather and construction are not the only forces NISD is dealing with in preparing for the beginning of another school year. Welcoming 85,500 new students and more than 800 new teachers, the school district is bracing for crowding.

“Overcrowding will be a perennial issue in Northside because we are barely opening up enough classrooms to meet the needs,” said Gonzalez. “Northside opens 200 new classrooms a year, but it seems like we always need more.”

Gonzalez said the district is already in the planning stages for another bond issue to be presented to the voters in 2010 to build another 12 to 15 schools.

New teachers are also in high demand but Folks said that most new teachers for the new school year have already been hired.

“So far we have hired 678 teachers, 276 elementary, 356, secondary and 45 in the specialist support staff area. We still have approximately 112 vacancies, that probably will make people nervous, but when you distribute that out over about 100 campuses, it’s not that many when you really look at it,” he said. As administrators preparing to return to school the first week in August, Folks said he’s confident that Northside is well prepared for the ’07-’08 school year.

“Students don’t come back until August 27, a little later than normal,” he said. “We feel very good about where we are as far as the beginning of school.”