OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — For the second night in a row, parents in the Shawnee Mission School District are asking how overcrowding is going to affect their children next year.

Tuesday night’s site council meeting was at affected Brookridge Elementary School. Parents were asked for input by SMSD Superintendent Dr. Jim Hinson. Some of the options they asked Dr. Hinson to look at included ‘sixth grade only’ buildings and the creation of middle schools.

But as Dr. Hinson pointed out, that doesn’t solve the immediate issue. It’s the same issue he was asked to address by a group of very angry parents on Monday night.

Elementary schools at or beyond capacity are plaguing the school district and Tuesday, Dr. Hinson asked parents at Brookridge Elementary for input on potential fixes

“How do we accommodate for student growth so we’re not having this conversation two years down the road,” Dr. Hinson asked the small group.

It is, in fact, an issue that was dealt with two years ago. That’s when Brookridge actually took in more than 100 students from the shuttered Dorothy Moody Elementary School when student enrollment was down. Twelve schools have been closed since 2001 due to a loss of student population.

Now that trend is reversed and space is needed, but not available.

“So long-term, again, this doesn’t solve our issue here, but would you like the district to look at 6,7,8 middle schools? Is that what I’m hearing from you?” Hinson asked.

And short-term, parents at Brookridge say boundary changes appear to be the only option. Parents said they don’t like the idea of mobile trailers brought in for classrooms. They did ask the superintendent to look at moving sixth graders to their own building, a process Dr. Hinson says would be three years away.

Dr. Hinson will make a final recommendation in a few weeks.