The new East will have “about the same number of students”…

….as the school-and-a-half it will replace.

On that brief WDIO report I mentioned previously I snorted when I heard about the new school having more parking spaces than East High. For the past couple years the District has been ignoring the hundreds of spaces rented by the District from the Diocese of Duluth. The District would have to find similar parking to accomodate the kids attending the new East High like, for instance, at the Northland Country Club. Of Course, those students would have to park and then cross the busy Superior Street yet one more traffic safety issue.

But a friend noticed something else in the story that I hadn’t noticed:

from WDIO:

“But Kerry Leider, Property Manager for Duluth Schools, feels otherwise. He said the new high school has 366 spaces– almost 200 more the old school–with about the same number of students.”

This seems odd. If there will be the same number of students at Ordean as at East, why did they have to build a new HS?

Its hard to see how the new school could have about the same number of students if it is to keep all its old students and then get half the kids who attended Central High School. Could the enrollment diaspora from our schools be that dramatic or is Mr. Leider simply dismissing a looming headache?

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