Crowded Essrig will get some breathing room

A $1.3-million wing will be constructed at the school, which was built to serve 865 students but has about 1,110.

By LOGAN D. MABE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 6, 2002

CARROLLWOOD -- School district officials are just a few permits away from launching a 10-classroom addition at crowded Essrig Elementary.

"We're waiting on permitting from Swiftmud (the water authority). We're ready to roll as soon as it's approved," said the district's project coordinator Alice Sutton. "We expect approval any day now. We anticipate being completed by the start of school next year."

On the drawing board is a $1.3-million wing consisting of two buildings. The project is similar to a classroom addition that opened at Claywell Elementary this year, although the design is suited to Essrig's needs.

"The building at Essrig is actually two buildings," Sutton said. Slated to be built near the driveway where car riders meet their parents, a small, sheltered courtyard will separate the two buildings. On rainy days, children will be protected there while waiting to be picked up.

More importantly, the project will go a long way toward doing away with portable classrooms on the campus.

Now, Essrig uses 12 portables classrooms, including one that was converted from storage to class space, said Essrig principal Karen Zielinski.

The wing addition would replace nearly all of the portable classrooms. But Essrig still has to manage other aspects of overcrowding. For instance, Zielinski said, lunch sessions begin at 10 a.m. and continue throughout the day until about 1 p.m.

"We just have to run a real tight schedule," Zielinski said.

Essrig was built to serve 865 students and has a current enrollment of about 1,110. For Zielinski, running a school the size of some small towns means it takes awhile to get to know all the students.

"It would always be my goal," she said. "But I do whatever I can do to try to meet everybody. I go to classrooms, I do the morning show, I do morning and afternoon duty with the cars, or I'm in the lunchroom. I try to go a little bit everywhere."

-- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com.

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