It is every teacher’s worst nightmare: planning their lesson for a class of say, 25 students. They have the right number of books, just enough seats, but most importantly, they have the assurance that they will be able to teach everyday without fears of doing so in an overcrowded classroom in an overcrowded school. However, with late transfer students piling in to CHS to the tune of two to five students every day, those fears are now turning into realities. To add insult to injury, nothing can be done about it.
“It can’t be helped.” said guidance department chair Kristina Boxley. “It’s always been this way.”
In the midst of a struggling economy and severe overcrowding problems at CHS, Ms. Boxley’s comments quickly became an unfortunate mantra which could easily come as a sting to teachers dealing with the influx of new students showing up to class days, even weeks past the start of school.
“It’s a huge pain in the butt for teachers.” said Spanish teacher Rebcca Hope.
Ms. Boxley says the economy is probably playing the largest role when it comes to late enrollment transfers.
“Due to the state of the economy, many people are being forced to move because they can’t afford their homes.” said Ms. Boxley.
However, she was quick to add that because of the high cost of living in Catonsville, many families weren’t necessarily buying homes in the area.
“What we see happening a lot is families moving into homes or apartments with relatives because they can’t afford to get a home on their own.” she added.
On top of that, many parents are unable to afford the tuition for private schools and are being forced to move their students to public schools.
Ms. Boxley notes that while late enrollment transferring is putting a strain on teachers and CHS’ overcrowding, the late enrollment transfer numbers are only slightly larger than last year.
She also says along with the economy, there are other factors playing a part in late enrollment transfers.
“A lot of the transfers have to do with circumstances. Whether its custody issues or divorces, or kids not liking their magnet schools, it’s hard for everybody, and we have to be flexible,” she said.
Ms. Boxley says these late transfers have become a way of life for her and the Guidance department she oversees, and because of this, the transfer process has not really put a strain on the resources of the department.
“We work to get them enrolled as quickly as possible,” she added.
While the guidance department deals with the late transfer process the best way they can, Ms. Boxley says it can be extremely difficult for students to deal with it.
“Educationally, it’s hard to transfer and that is mostly because of the complexity of our scheduling process here at Catonsville and the process of scheduling and course credits that vary from school system to school system. I just feel bad for the kids because it’s not their fault” she said.
Ms. Boxley says she also feels for the teachers who have to try and catch the students up.
“We don’t like it. It’s a lot more work that we have to put in. We have to catch the students up to where the class currently is which is extremely difficult. Plus, it’s rare that the students get fully caught up.” Hope remarked.
Concerns of falsifying residency have also been raised in light of the spike in late enrollment numbers; however, Ms. Boxley and assistant principal Eric Eiswert were quick to quell them.
“There may be some late enrollment transfers faking residency, but I would say the majority of them are legitimate,” said Eiswert.
Ms. Boxley noted classes like Keyboarding, Physical Education, Piano, and other courses are not subject to overcrowding and late enrollments if they are filled to capacity because they have a cap. However, many academic classes such as AP English and social studies classes are being effected.
“If there are 30 pianos, then we obviously can’t put 31 students in that Piano class.” said Boxley.