Traffic ‘congestion' in school slows Blazers down

Blair's 3,400 student population exceeds the 2,700 student limit for which the new building was built, causing overcrowding and frustration among students.
 
Blair's enrollment for the 2002-2003 school year was 3,197. The class of 2007 alone has a total of 920 students, an increase from last year's 840.
 
Ninth-grade administrator Dr. Richard Wilson said it is difficult to find classrooms not in use and many teachers have to share rooms due to a lack of space.  Safety concerns were also raised by the lack of space in the bleachers during the September 5 fire-drill.
 
The increase in students has resulted in crowded lunches and hallways. Senior Jasmine Peterson believes Blair's "congested" population is worse than previous years. "You can't get to classes on time because people stop in hallways to talk [and] there's not enough time to get to lockers," she said.
 
Senior Juliette Leger said the problem annoys her because there are always "people in [her] face," and the lunch lines are longer.
 
Some students believe the problem is one that will worsen over time. Peterson said that school officials should try and limit the number of students that are able to attend Blair. "The administration should start investigating the students that don't belong to this school and should be somewhere else," she said. She said that "people that don't live in this jurisdiction" should not be allowed to attend Blair. In fact, such an investigation is ongoing.
 
Senior Darryl Hall acknowledges the problem, but said it cannot be avoided because the population is growing. He said that the administration is aware of the problem, and is solving it in different ways, such as through the building of extra portables. Wilson said these portables are a great solution because they are "clean and quiet classrooms."