Education officials in Augusta say city schools are full and something will have to be done soon to give the schools room to grow. Above, Lillian Parks Hussey School at 12 Gedney St., for which the city long ago applied for state funding to renovate or replace the aging building. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

AUGUSTA — The public schools in Augusta are full, and regardless of whether the city’s long-pending application for state funding to replace or renovate the aging Lillian Parks Hussey School is successful, something will have to be done to give the schools room to grow in the near future.

That was part of the message delivered last Thursday to city councilors at a presentation by school officials, who said if the state does not fund Augusta’s application for school construction funding to address the need to replace or renovate Hussey, the city and its taxpayers might soon have to address the need for more educational space.

“I hope we’ll all be happy when the phone call comes, in a year or so, about Hussey and how that might impact the entire Augusta School Department when you go through that process,” Superintendent James Anastasio said, referring to Augusta’s application for school construction funding. “But if that doesn’t happen, it’s going to have to be done some other way, which obviously would be something the city, and voters, would have to address. Because we are full.”

In 2017-18, the state ranked Augusta’s proposal to address facility needs at Hussey ninth on the school construction funding priority list. Seven school construction projects were funded that year, leaving Augusta behind.

The next school construction rating cycle, according to Maine Department of Education officials, is due to be initiated in 2024. There is no guarantee Augusta’s application will be funded, or even retain its spot on the funding list.

Anastasio said an ongoing goal is to ensure equity exists between the city’s four elementary schools, and that class sizes are similar at each school. However, he said, one of the city’s elementary schools, where a teacher would have otherwise been hired to add another second grade class to reduce class sizes, did not have any classrooms available. So, instead, the district added education technicians to assist an existing second grade teacher with a larger size class in the existing space at the school.

“As we continue to grow, and we think we will, based on some things that are going on in the city and perhaps going on in the nation and state, it’s going to be more and more difficult to meet the needs of students without more space,” Anastasio said. “In the future, we’ll have to address that in some way. And there aren’t many different ways. Space needs to be leased, built or bought … to create the space for us to grow and offer additional programs.”

The concern comes despite the fact that Augusta’s schools, with about 2,100 students, have far fewer students today than years ago.

Martha Witham, the recently elected chairwoman of the Augusta Board of Education, acknowledged the enrollment decrease, referring to her years as a student at city schools.

“If I were sitting in your positions, one of the questions I would wonder is: How is it we have so many fewer kids than we did before?” Witham told city councilors. “There were 137 graduates this year. My graduating class was 365. So what happened? We have a lot less kids, but we have space needs?”

Witham said one reason for the space crunch is Augusta has closed schools over the years, such as both of its middle schools: Lou M. Buker School, which is now a community center, and Ella R. Hodgkins School, now housing.

Witham also said education has changed and now needs more space. She said many students now require more individual attention from teachers, leading to smaller class sizes and the need for more classrooms.

Witham and Assistant Superintendent Michael Tracy Jr. also said city schools need more space to keep students current on the latest technology.

Tracy provided demographic information, including that Augusta has 207 teachers for its 2,100 students — about 11 students for every teacher.

Witham and Mayor Mark O’Brien said they plan to have more school presentations for the City Council in the effort to improve communication.