The Tamaqua Area School District is preparing for growth as it sees its enrollment numbers continuing to rise.

Superintendent Dr. Stephen Toth told school board members Tuesday that both elementary schools are at 90% capacity, and enrollment is continuing to trend upward.

“At the beginning of my tenure, we had talked about space issues at our elementaries,” he said. “So much so that space became an extreme issue at our Tamaqua Elementary building.”

An extreme uptick in enrollments over the summer forced him to make the decision to shift some students from Tamaqua Elementary to West Penn Elementary to balance out classes, Toth explained.

As it stands now, the elementaries only have one room available that isn’t being used, and that available space is going away due to the growing enrollments, he said.

The district administration has reached out to Alloy 5, the architect that worked on the stadium storage building, about “theoretical possibilities” as what little space the district has disappears with added students, he said.

Toth would like Alloy 5 to formally present scenarios to the board next month, looking at where the district’s capacity is trending, possible remedies and steps they can take to fix the issue.

He pointed out that overcrowding eventually becomes a safety issue, and he would like to see the district take steps to continue to provide a safe environment for their students.

Toth also noted that the district is good financial and fiscal shape, as it sees its debt expiring. Last month, Chris Hoffert of Stifel Public Finance, talked to the board about its current financial situation and future borrowing.

“At some point in time, I know that we will make the right decision for the health, safety, and well-being of our students moving forward to put them in the best educational environment,” Toth said.

“I’m going to leave it up the experts at Alloy 5,” he said. “We kind of have ideas what we would like to see and then also we want some involvement with our board.”

Board member Trina Schellhammer asked if they do “move forward hypothetically with building something” to accommodate growth in the lower grades, what happens as those students move to the upper grades.

Toth said they’d be looking to address needs across the district in all of its buildings.

“What we are going to plan to do is make sure not only are we addressing the problems now but also allow for Tamaqua to grow in the future,” he said.

Toth noted that there have been developments approved within the district and chain businesses, such as the proposed Wawa in Rush Township, are looking to locate in the area.

“So, this corridor is growing,” Toth said. “If you look at the districts around us, those districts are growing. I don’t think that if you were sitting here 10, 12 years ago, I don’t’ think people would have predicted this, but here we are.

“We have to hand the problems as they come before us,” he said, reframing the situation as an opportunity to create a better learning environment for their students.

The board is also set to act on forming a new committee, specifically to handle the facilities, at its regular meeting Tuesday.