While other schools in the county are seeing enrollment numbers drop, Hinton Community School is looking at a possible new elementary building in Hinton to keep up with growing student numbers.

The issue will have to go to a vote by residents in the district to approve bonding for the new building before they could build it, but the school board is negotiating a contract with architectural firm Cannon, Moss and Brygger of Sioux City at their meeting on Monday, Jan 21, at 7 p.m. in the school library.

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"We have growing enrollment and we're out of space," said Hinton Superintendent Al Steen. "We're projected to grow by 10-20 kids for the next several years."

The growth, he said, tends to come in the preschool through 6th grade years.

"We're normally a two-section-per-grade school, but this year we've got three sections in Kindergarten, first and second grade," he said, noting that they emphasize small class sizes.

The new building would house preschool through third grade, and possibly include a new competitive gymnasium.

"We have trouble getting everyone in our current gym, which was built in the 1950s," Steen said.

If the new building is built, fourth through 12th grade would remain in the current school facility.

The school already bought some land in the southwest corner of Hinton, but Steen said the exact location of the proposed building is not yet narrowed down. Neither is the price.

"We don't have any firm budget projections," he said, noting that the school has a $7.5 million bonding capacity. The new building would be paid for through a bond issue and through some local option sales tax.

The community has been hugely supportive of the school in all areas, he said.

"We haven't gone out holding community meetings on this project yet, so I can't gauge the pulse of the community for sure," he said. "We will be involving the public in a lot of hearings and dialogue."

Hinton's growing enrollment, Steen said, was a mix between increased Hinton residence numbers and a rise in open enrollment.

"We have 151 coming in on open enrollment and only 41 going out," he said. "Most of those come from Sioux City."

The need for more elementary space is not common throughout the county.

In the Le Mars Community Schools system, after seeing an 81-student enrollment drop this year, the school board made $480,000 in budget cuts. Part of that discussion included the possibility of shifting classes away from the Kissinger Elementary School building in Merrill. In long-term outlooks, some questioned whether the Merrill campus would need to remain open. At this point, the school board has taken no action to move any classes.