As a grandparent of a Rosa Park Elementary School student and a retired elementary teacher, I am dismayed by the growing school population of nearly 800 students.

Young children and their parents need and deserve an effective and nurturing school environment, which is very difficult to provide in a school that is “bursting at the seams.” I am concerned for the students, teachers, specialists, aides and administrative staff struggling on a daily basis to do their best against such odds.

Having taught in portables I know the physical limitations of no pod space for pull-out of students for remedial, enrichment and small group activities, plus the inconvenience of long, unsupervised, often rainy trips to the bathrooms. With ten portables taking up needed playground space and too many students recess becomes more frenetic and dangerous, instead of the constructive downtime and physical exercise break it is intended to be. Crowded and noisy hallways and bathrooms are also a concern, as are overcrowded assemblies.

Our society has a real need for a feeling of belonging which a school community with a reasonable student population provides. Over-crowding is dehumanizing and over-stimulating to children’s sensibilities with more chance for students, especially isolated/loner students, to be lost in the shuffle. Also, after school activities, family events and parking are impacted in a negative way.

The Lake Washington School District and the school board are in a position of responsibility for facing head-on the unacceptable student population at Rosa Parks Elementary. An obvious and effective solution is to fully utilize Wilder Elementary, which is under-populated by 200 students and is very adjacent to Rosa Parks and more so to Redmond Ridge East.

My own children were transferred to other schools because of overcrowding which I was against, but they adjusted easily. The parents are the ones that have the problem adjusting to their kids going to another school, but they are also thinking adults who should be able “to see the big picture” that overcrowding needs to be addressed.

Of course parents are not in charge of the daily education and sense of well-being of 800 students, but the district and board are. Rosa Parks is a historic figure who stood up for individual rights, just as the district and parents working together need to proactively stand up for students’ rights to a quality education in an optimal school setting.

Sharon Pagel, Woodinville