WICHITA, Kansas, July 15, 2008 – The Wichita Public School bond issue is heating up again. Supporters postponed a vote in April and so far, they haven’t rescheduled another one. But the school board knows without that money, the district could face serious overcrowding problems.

School board members got a closer look at their growing problem Monday night. Space in the district is running out and without new classrooms, the problem will get worse.

"It's a critical need, we have areas of town that continue to grow as new infrastructure is placed in those areas, like sewer and water, that a automatic trigger for new development,” said USD 259 Interim Superintendent Martin Libhart.

Stucky Middle School may be the first to feel the pinch. It opened only five years ago and is already reaching capacity.

Jardine Middle School currently has the fewest number of middle school students. So, the district could either bus Stucky students to it, or consider shifting school boundaries, but that won't be an easy process.

If the district shifted boundaries out East, it would affect five schools: Stucky, Coleman, Curtis, Mead and Jardine, potentially impacting 710 students.

The shifting could get worse out west as six schools and 1019 students would be affected in the middle schools alone.

“The grade schools feed to the middle schools, which feeds to the high schools,” said Wichita School Board President Lynn Rogers. “So, if you change one, it’s a domino effect."

That puts the pressure back on passing a bond. The $350 million proposal would be a long-term solution to the growing problem if it can get enough support.

"We've got to have quality classrooms, we've got to have smaller classrooms, we've got to have safer classrooms, what we are really talking is the future of our kids and the future of Wichita,” Rogers said.

The board still has to approve putting the bond issue on the November ballot. That decision will be made in August.