Broken Arrow Elementary School Nears Capacity, Plans To Transfer Students This Fall

A Broken Arrow elementary school is quickly running out of space.

The school said the solution right now is to change the district map and move some kids to another elementary school next year. The change would affect about 80 students.

Rosewood Elementary just opened three years ago, and the school district said it is already running out of room, with just six percent capacity left.

A view from Osage Drone 6 shows just how expansive the growth is in this part of Broken Arrow. Between new neighborhoods, and others on the way, the desire for development couldn't be more clear.

“If you look at this area, it is exploding,” Rosewood Elementary Principal Nate Hutchings said Monday night during a meeting with parents.

Hutchings explained the changes he anticipates are coming. With a maximum capacity of 667 students, he said the school is only 30 students away from a breaking point.

“Trying to find classrooms, trying to find space for everything is really difficult,” Hutchings said.

The school district said students will need to move, and a redistricting map shows a plan for the Washington Lane neighborhood to be absorbed by the Vandever Elementary School boundaries.

The district said current 4th graders can stay at Rosewood next year if they choose, but dozens of other students would need to transfer.

The district said all other transfer requests would need to go through the BAPS enrollment office, and there is no guarantee that a transfer will be approved.

"My son is gonna have to go to another school next year and all his friends are at the current school that he goes to right now,” Yolanda Martin said.

Martin's eight-year-old son, Giovanni, went to Rosewood for Kindergarten and 1st Grade as a virtual student. She doesn’t want his first year inside this school building, to be his last.

"Rosewood is the top school for my son's development, and his growth,” she said.

Broken Arrow Public Schools said its board would need to approve the plan before it is final. The Broken Arrow School Board plans to discuss this issue at its next meeting on Monday.