50 students crammed into classrooms at Logan High School


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LOGAN — At Logan High School, the average class size is less than ideal. Some classes have 50 or even 60 students crammed into a small space. Overcrowding is becoming a big problem, and administrators have said a solution may be years away.

"We're coping with a bad situation the very best that we can," said principal Shane Ogden.

AP English teacher Bill Emmett sees that firsthand everyday.

"It's always going to be a problem with making sure that you're giving the individual attention to everyone," he said.

Emmett's largest classes seat more than 50 students and he teaches more than 200 in all.

"The problem becomes, of course, the more students you have in terms of total load, the more papers you have to correct, the more time you need to devote to the grading of papers," Emmett said.

Adding to the difficulties with class size, the school is old. The original building dates all the way back to the early 1870s. Other classrooms were once part of an elementary school.


"We've got some classrooms that even if we could manage teaching 52 kids, the classroom itself won't hold them," Principal Shane Ogden said.

"We've got some classrooms that even if we could manage teaching 52 kids, the classroom itself won't hold them," Ogden said.

Administrators say the problem started when the economy made a downturn a few years ago. Student population itself hasn't changed much. The real problem is a lack of teachers; they're now short by between two and four.

The district is hoping to fix that by asking taxpayers for $900,000 in a levy vote this November. Even then, the money wouldn't become available until the 2015 school year.

The district also plans to add a bond for between $40 million and $55 million on the November ballot. That would cover renovations, with a large chunk going toward updating Logan High School classrooms.

While the greater workload is being put on some teachers, many of them say it's the students that miss out by being given less time and attention.

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Mike Anderson

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