County Commission members on Wednesday cited several dire needs at Howard School, and Commissioner Joe Graham said the grossly overcrowded school "is in desperate need."
He said the school was designed for 800-1,000 students and has almost 1,600. He said, "Two, three or four more students arrive almost every day."
Commissioner Graham said the cafeteria is designed for 800 students and has to remain open until 2:30 p.m. to try to serve all students.
He also said there is a shortage of lockers at the school.
Another issue is that the school has 75 doors and some are not secure, he stated.
Commissioner Graham said there is a "huge homeless camp" deep in the woods next to Howard School and sometimes homeless individuals come onto the campus. He said earlier this year one homeless individual entered the school naked.
He said there are numerous police and fire calls to the homeless camp, which is difficult to reach and has no road to it. These include police and medical calls, he said.
Commissioner Greg Beck said the new access road to I-24 being constructed by Howard is too close to the school's stadium.
He said the state needs to build a partition separating the road from the school.