In an effort to ease overcrowding in Wareham's two elementary schools, the School Committee is considering moving 5th-graders to the middle school.

"We don't have any classroom space because it's all utilized," Minot Forest Elementary Principal Joan Seamans told the School Committee and parents gathered for a public hearing on the proposal on Wednesday, Jan. 9.

Both Minot Forest and John W. Decas Elementary use "portable" classrooms — add-ons meant to temporarily increase space. But the shelf life of the portables is 10 years, and they're now more than 20 years old.

The use of unconventional areas for teaching and learning has become commonplace, Seamans and Decas Elementary Principal Christine Panarese explained.

Six reading teachers work with students in one of the Minot Forest gyms, some classrooms have nearly 30 desks to accommodate all the students, a storage area at the Decas school is used as a small classroom, and instructional staff uses the bus lobby at the school.

Wareham Middle School Principal Howard Gilmore presented a plan that has 5th- and 6th-graders sharing one area of the school. Fifth-grade students would eat lunch together, and rotate classes within one of three teaching "teams," which they would participate in recess with.

Specials — such as music, art, and reading and literacy would be offered. The students would go to gym class two days out of a six-day schedule rotation.

"The 5th-graders are isolated, they're kept in their own teams, and they have no need to prove that they're the oldest kids on the block or to defend the fact that they are the youngest in the building," Jan Rotella, director of curriculum and instruction, said of Gilmore's plan.

The population of the middle school would be approximately 874 students, lower than the 960 students housed there when the building was built.

Staff will move from the elementary schools, and class sizes will be between 23 and 24 students, Gilmore said.

The move won't reduce class sizes or save the district any money. It will simply give some flexibility at the bursting-at-the-seams elementary schools, School Committee members explained.

"While this is not going to save any money, while this is not going to increase or decrease class sizes, this is really a function of… we have a building here that is fully paid for, that is beautiful, that has lovely classrooms," explained School Committee Chair Geoff Swett, "and it's not being well-utilized, and we have two other locations that are over-crowded."

Parents expressed concerns about safety on the school buses, which would be carrying middle- and high-school students.

Superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch said the district is willing to put a bus monitor on buses that will transport 5th-graders. He added that drivers will separate students by school and grade-level. That is, 5th- and 6th-graders would sit in the front of the bus, 7th- and 8th-graders in the middle, and high school students in the back.

"We understand that this is stressful," Rabinovitch told parents as he opened the public hearing.

Parents hoped that the move would allow the elementary schools to get rid of the aging portable classrooms all together.

That's not likely to happen any time soon, administrators said. But fewer students would have to deal with those smaller "temporary" classrooms, and the rooms could be use for "specials" such as music and art, and for other instruction that takes place outside the regular classroom.

"My school council is used to doing 'Plan A' and 'Plan B,'" said Seamans. "The portables will still be used in some way."

Decas Principal Panarese summed up a sentiment echoed by School Committee members and administrators alike.

"I don't want to see my 5th grade go, and my 5th grade teachers," she said. "But based on a better opportunity for the 5th grade and the students at Decas, it's a no-brainer."

The School Committee plans to vote on the move at its meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 30.