Finding some place to put students in crowded schools is a task a newly formed committee is tackling for the Tahoma School District.

The ad hoc student housing committee met for the fourth time  since the school year ended on July 27 at the district administration building.

This group was formed in response to the failure April 26 of the district’s construction bond measure. The district had hoped to sell bonds to raise $120 million for maintenance, to build a fifth elementary school, add classroom space to Tahoma Junior High and Tahoma High, among other projects.

At this meeting the committee evaluated what it would take to free up space at schools by trying to make the numbers add up.

“What are some options we can come up with when we put our brains together,” said Superintendent Mike Maryanski.

More than a dozen community members worked in groups of five or six and tried to hash out among themselves what to do under a certain set of circumstances.

While the district is evaluating the possibility of leasing out surplus space from the Kent School District, it will be two or three months before Tahoma officials know if that’s a possibility, nor could they evaluate the option of moving students to another non-district site in the community. That is also something Tahoma staff members are evaluating, as well.

“What emerged the last time was a lot of creativity around what if we took a whole group of kids and got them taking a class online,” Maryanski said. “Or what if we got more kids in Running Start… or fast tracking graduation. But, we don’t have any examples of that so we can’t project those (enrollment) numbers. We’re not disregarding your previous work. These suggestions just provide more options.”

In addition, the three story brick building on the site of the old transportation facility is not available until it is renovated, and Maryanski urged the committee to consider the impact of moving students into district facilities that are not designed for students.

At some point the concept of moving sections of a required course for freshmen to an online only class is also a possibility, but, that’s something the committee couldn’t consider until district officials have more information on that topic.

“Right now online classes and off-site schooling is off the table until the staff researches those options and brings them back to the committee,” said Marcy Rice, one of the committee members.

To that end, the committee members were essentially evaluating how to shuffle groups of students from one school to another, starting with the 2014-15 school year through 2018.

One group looked at what would happen if every one of an elementary school’s full day kindergarten classes were cut. It would free up classroom space.

Other options considered at that session included moving groups of students from the junior high to the high school, moving children around from one school to another, as well as cutting full day kindergarten or even converting computer labs to classrooms.

Another committee member suggested converting the auxiliary gym at Tahoma Junior High into classroom space.

“We’ve been doing a lot of math to figure out where to put kids,” said committee member Joy Stramer during the meeting.

Another member of her group noted that not only is the district student population outgrowing the buildings many of those same structures are in disrepair.

And throughout the conversation there was discussion as to why the bond measure failed as well as how the work of the committee may impact the district’s ability to pass a bond at some point in the near future.

The committee will meet several more times before its due to offer its recommendations to the Tahoma School Board in October.

“The board wants guidance — these are all community members — as to how to proceed,” Maryanski said. “Before they go back (to the community) they want more input from the community.”

The committee meets again on Aug. 17. The meetings are open to the public.