Students say the past couple years at Ridgeview has been crowded. The new high school Del Oro might have made a difference in this situation with school boundaries changing. However, students feel as if Ridgeview is still overflowing with people on campus.
As students argue that the lunch lines are too long, the traffic after school is unbeatable, and classrooms are overfilling, Ridgeview High School is actually experiencing a reduction. Ridgeview previously occupied 2,830 students in the school year of 2021-22. As of the 2023-24 school year and the new boundary change, Ridgeview High School occupies 2,658 students, which is 59 students over what was projected.
Principal Roger Sanchez claims, “There is going to be another reduction next year as well as reduced enrollment.” Surprisingly, it is projected that in the school year of 2024-25, there is going to be 60-100 fewer students attending Ridgeview High school.
It might seem like there is no more room for any general classes such as Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, History, etc. however, Sanchez assures that there are no staff shortages. Jessica Finley, English teacher and Assistant Dean, says, “As far as I know everyone has been able to get the classes they requested.”
Del Oro is a brand-new school in the Kern High School District. It was opened in 2022 to help with the overflow of students at other Kern High schools. Damian Hernandez was also asked about how he felt about Del Oro helping with overflow and he states, “I think the new school didn’t help because the school still feels overcrowded, and they only have freshmen through juniors there.”
Ashley Gonzales states the difference from Ridgeview’s population in 2020-21 and this year, 2023-24, is 71. Although the number of freshmen admitted has changed drastically the entire school’s population hasn’t. Hernandez also states, “When going through the hallways during passing periods I can really tell there are a bunch of people and even going through the lunch lines.”
Although many students and staff feel the population on campus is growing, the population is actually decreasing. With the number of freshmen being admitted slowly decreasing over the years, the number of students on campus is also decreasing.
