Socorro ISD holds ribbon-cutting for brand new school, hoping to alleviate overflow problems in the district

EL PASO, Texas -- Socorro ISD held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Ben Narbuth Elementary, hoping to alleviate overflow problems in the district.

SISD is experiencing an overflow in the district with the new school year starting Monday. Many parents whose children attend an SISD school have voiced concerns and frustrations after their registered child was turned away on the first day of school.

According to SISD Superintendent Dr. Nate Carman, all parents would've been notified if the overflow would affect their children before the first day of school.

"Whether there was a challenge maybe with an email going through or call being accepted at the house, I can't speak to that, but if they did register on time, those communications should've taken place before the end of last week," said Carman. "At the heart of the problem, we know the growth were experiencing in the area of our district is pretty rapid."

He says the district is trying to accommodate the families by offering placement in other district schools and trying to alleviate the issue by making small changes in class sizes.

"We also increased the allowable number of students in our kinder through fourth-grade classrooms from 22 to 23 in an effort to try and get as many students in the classrooms for the neighborhood schools as we could and work with our parents," said Carman.

Ben Narbuth Elementary will hold over 800 students. SISD knows this will alleviate some overflow issues, but due to the rapidly growing area, they foresee needing to open more schools in the future.