Brunswick County elementary schools are struggling with overcrowding issues

“We have to feed 822 students every day, give or take.”

BRUNSWICK COUNTY (WWAY) — Some Brunswick County schools are facing an overcrowding problem. It started about a year ago due to an increase in population, and now the district is trying to do something to alleviate the problem.

At Belville Elementary School, Allison Dixon is responsible for more than just principal duties; she is also responsible for crowd control.

“We have to feed or take 822 students every day,” Dixion says.

Over the past year, Brunswick County has seen an influx of families with their children needing a place to go to school. It’s just that schools like Belville Elementary are becoming a bit overcrowded.

“We need to bring in more tables so everyone can fit in. Then we also have a small cafeteria here,” said Dixion.

So we asked Director Dixon to show us that we could take a look for ourselves.

“We have our state laws that protect the number of students that can be in their classroom,” Dixion explained. “But when you get to fourth and fifth grade, there’s no legislation.”

Dixion says the kindergarten can have a maximum of 21 students.

“(I) thought I’d show him the trailers here,” Dixion told a fifth-grade class.

However, when we visited a fifth-grade class, a teacher from Belville said, “My largest group is 30 people.

It’s unfortunate because Dixon says some of her staff will lose their offices or shared spaces for more kindergarten classrooms. However, the Brunswick County School District is in the process of purchasing land to build another elementary school.

“A new primary school would (simply) be a relief. I don’t think our students are negatively affected, but I wouldn’t say it would hurt. A new school would of course alleviate some of the pressure,” said Dixion.

Until that happens, Dixon’s teachers are doing the best they can.

“Our teachers are rock stars here at Belville. They do a great job of going above and beyond for our students, no matter how many students are in their classrooms, whether they are five or 30,” Dixion said.

Last week, the Leland City Council approved a resolution allowing exploration of an annexation request from “Jackey’s Creek Investors” for land for the school. The 1,100-acre parcel of land, where a new school could be located, would be the same area that could have housed a minor league baseball stadium before negotiations on that idea collapsed.