Hamilton County is rapidly developing, and the effects of it are becoming increasingly evident across the school district. In 2022, the United States Census Bureau reported a population of 101,966 in Fishers, Indiana. By 2045, according to IndyStar, the city is projected to reach a population of 130,000, almost a 27% increase in comparison to the population in 2022. While Fishers is only one of four big cities that make up Hamilton County, these four cities are growing at a similar pace. Unfortunately, the rapid growth has slowly begun to present significant challenges for the HSE district as it adjusts to the sudden influx of students. In response to the large population of students, two schools specifically in Hamilton County have had to make a difficult decision: closing their doors to new enrollments for the 2024-2025 school year. Hamilton Intermediate Junior High (HIJH) and Southeastern Elementary (SES) are no longer accepting any new students because there is no more room left in the schools themselves.
As a result, incoming students are being deferred to other schools in the district, even if they live in the boundary lines of the school. While this may seem like the right solution to the problem, there are students who are being transferred, regardless of where they live.
For some students, this means bus rides home have drastically changed from a simple 10-minute ride to a lengthy 40 minutes on average. These longer routes are a result of students being placed on buses that do not serve their neighborhood directly. Instead, students are being dropped off in different neighborhoods or forced to stay on much longer routes before arriving at their own neighborhoods. This has become an increasing concern for parents and students alike, as the extended commute impacts students’ schedule and after-school commitments.
Emilie Lentz, a freshman, experienced this bus situation firsthand when she moved to Fishers before the start of 6th grade.
“I was supposed to go to HIJH, but it was full, so I had to go to [Fall Creek Junior High (FCJH)],” Lentz said. “A different bus took me to Fall Creek, but the issue was [that] my bus ride [home] was 40 minutes long.”
In addition to having to change schools, Lentz also had to be on what is called a “transfer bus” which was 40 minutes long. Transfer buses are used for students who had to be redistricted—in this case, Lentz switching schools due to the doors being shut. While this seems like a simple solution, her ride was not only longer than most, but she did not have time after school for extracurricular activities, such as cheer. Unfortunately, this is a problem that many students face after having been moved due to overwhelming numbers of students. To make matters worse, some students are required to leave class as much as 20 minutes early just to catch their transfer buses home, cutting into valuable instructional time. These disruptions not only lengthen their commutes but also impact their education.
While Lentz was only “slightly bummed” about not going to school with the few friends she had made, the bigger challenge was adapting to a school where she didn’t know anyone. The situation was more than a simple inconvenience. For a middle school student, moving to a new school can be daunting enough, but being redistricted to a school she hadn’t planned on attending- where she knew no one- worsened the entire situation. Her experience is one of many faced by displaced students.
Transportation issues like Lentz’s are just part of the broader problem. Overcrowded buses are also affecting students who remain within their assigned school boundaries. In many cases, three to a seat has become the norm, making the ride to and from school suffocating.
While not on a transfer bus, Caroline Baer, a junior, dealt with a jam-packed bus on a daily basis.
“My old bus, 121, was very overcrowded,” Baer said. “[People said] that there were over 120 kids on our bus. Over half of the kids sat three to a seat, and it was just uncomfortable having almost full-grown adults sitting on such small seats.”
The discomfort is inevitable for students like Baer that rely on the bus. She ended up seeking an alternative to bus transportation because of these conditions.
“My parents ended up just driving me to school as it was just so crowded and intolerable for me,” Baer said. “I know many others did the same thing until we got another bus.”
The school had to rearrange bus routes, forcing a majority of kids on bus 121 to move to a different bus, but not before they had to endure the inconvenience of cramped conditions. The bus had reached a breaking point, as it was overcapacity last year as well. Every seat was full, with two or three seats usually containing three students. Due to population growth, bus 121 had an influx of new riders for the 24-25 school year.
Overcrowding in schools doesn’t only affect transportation, it also has a direct impact on students’ educational experiences. Larger class sizes make it difficult for teachers to give individualized attention to students, potentially impacting the quality of instruction. Not only does this impact teachers, but many students may find it challenging to learn due to the limited 1:1 attention. Students may feel apprehensive or uncomfortable asking for additional assistance because so many of their peers also need assistance. For example, if several students raise their hands for help, teachers can only accommodate the allotted time to assist many students with their questions, making it apparent that many students are not receiving help. Harley Suter, a sophomore, states that he experiences this on a frequent basis.
“When my teachers are teaching a lesson, sometimes I don’t understand [it]. I wait my turn and raise my hand, but they are always so busy that I don’t [get help],” Suter said. “I usually give up and try it at home, but I get so confused and just want to give up.”
Suter is one of many students who face this issue. When students fall behind and struggle with learning material, the domino effect of missing assignments and poor grades occurs.
Suter believes that if he had more one-on-one instruction, he would have an easier time understanding the content in his classes, helping him catch up to his peers and avoid falling behind.
“When this happens, I fall behind on assignments and then my grade starts to slip,” Suter said. “This keeps piling up and then I just become unmotivated to do any of my work.”
Fortunately, the time set aside for Pathways every gray day usually offsets the initial impact of larger class sizes, allowing for more individualized time for students if needed.
“I like Pathways, but sometimes the [Pathways] teacher doesn’t know how to do the math assignments or science assignments I need help [with],” Suter said.
There is a clear need for smaller classrooms so that each student can learn the material easily and receive an adequate amount of help in order to be successful throughout high school. Some students can thrive in a classroom setting without individualized attention, but others sometimes need that one-on-one time to grasp a topic being taught in class. A single teacher simply cannot meet that demand for a multitude of students during the 80-minute class period. Students like Suter can feel like they’re being left behind.
“It gets [harder] each year with school, and I am afraid it will be even harder next year.” Suter said.
In the past, to address overcrowding, the district turned to portable classrooms to allow for a better teacher to staff ratio. Portable classrooms are classrooms designed to be temporary for schools to provide additional space in the event that the classes are overpopulated. Often built outside and in close vicinity to the original school, these classrooms are usually made from plastic and wood paneling. With their low cost in comparison to adding more classrooms to the original school, these classrooms can be appealing to school boards as a quick, short-term solution. However, over the years in Fishers, these classrooms have become permanent in some schools due to the large population of students in classrooms. HIJH, an at-capacity school, has two of their own portable classrooms behind the school which have been in use for several years. The continued reliance on these classrooms highlights the ongoing struggle the district faces in finding long-term solutions to the growing student population.
As the district struggles to manage the growing population of elementary and intermediate students, the overcrowding will inevitably trickle up to the high schools. With only two high schools in the district, HSE will be forced to adapt. The construction of more elementary schools, meant to address lower-level overcrowding, has only brought in more students to the district. According to the 2022 data from the United States Census Bureau, Hamilton County’s total population is 350,527, with 78,101 residents between the ages of 5 and 19, and another 21,085 under the age of 5. This is a substantial number of students who are most likely already in the school system, most likely HSE, or will be entering it in the coming years. As a result, high school class sizes will continue to grow.
Looking ahead, it is expected that Hamilton County’s continued growth will lead to more challenges faced by overcrowding. The temporary solutions of portable classrooms and redistricting may alleviate some of the pressure in the short term but are not sustainable in the long run. With an expected increase in population, students are apprehensive about what the buses will look like next year, how crowded the hallways and classrooms will be, and if it will impact their ability to learn effectively. Without significant investment in new schools and infrastructure, students will continue to face these challenges. There’s no denying that Hamilton County must balance the rapid growth of Fishers with the need to provide a quality education for every student, and that balance is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
