DE PERE, Wis. (WFRV) – De Pere schools are reaching capacity and now the district is having to stop accepting open enrollment applications with limited room for more students.

“Particularly Foxview Intermediate and the middle school are right at that capacity mark or slightly over it right now,” said Christopher Thompson, Superintendent for the Unified School District of De Pere. “Most people have said the high school felt full when it was at 1,300 students and now we’re getting close to 1,500 students so the High School is on its way to being full.”

With the continual growth of the district, they have come to the decision to build a new high school to fill with another 1,800 to 2,000 students. The Superintendent told Local 5’s Samantha Petters how they plan to make room for another school.

“We’re constantly thinking ahead how to do this in a way that will have the least impact, and still have the best service available for the community members of De Pere,” said Thompson. “The district is blessed to have space available within the district, we’ve purchased property and we’ve had property all along, so we’re wanting to use that now.”

Currently, open enrollment is closed for the school district except for only a handful of students on an annual basis. Until there is additional space, open enrollment will remain closed.

“The schools, the high school in particular, has been here since 1978 so we’ve expanded it over time but now we’re at the point where we need to make some decisions for the district,” said the Superintendent. “The district is growing and there is space that’s still going to be developed within the city of De Pere so right now we have to be ready for the future.”