On the drive to Donegal High School, there are pockets of homes and then stretches of farmland.

It seems as if there is plenty of room in this western county school district.

But there is not plenty of space in the classrooms. Donegal School District buildings have become overcrowded — even though it's the third smallest district in the county with just 2,892 students.

It is making do.

Donegal High has 14 modular classrooms tucked on a parking lot behind the school. The middle school has four modular classrooms. The district had to create another second-grade class this year at Maytown Elementary.

"I have almost one-third of my school in a modular classroom in a period," high school Principal John Felix said.

Meanwhile, district officials want to lease a building for a new kindergarten center for the 2008-09 school year. It would house more than 220 kindergartners and free up seven classrooms at the three elementary schools.

District officials have options on the table for a center location.

A board and community committee is studying long-term choices to alleviate overcrowding and provide for growth.

A Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13 study showed that the district has expanded over the past 10 years by 11.3 percent. Other enrollment studies put Donegal as the fastest-growing school district in the past five years, with enrollment surging by more than 10 percent.

The growth will continue — despite a slumping national housing market, despite a slowing economy — three separate studies predict.

According to a Lancaster County Planning Commission report, by the 2016-2017 school year Donegal will have outpaced the other 15 county school districts with a nearly 20 percent increase in enrollment. And a study by the Pennsylvania Economy League puts Donegal at 3,000 students in less than two years.

Mark Hiester, assistant manager of Mount Joy Borough, isn't sure why Donegal School District remains a relatively hot housing market. But he thinks the borough train station, which is used by people to reach Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and "good highway access" are contributors.

He said the borough hasn't changed planning or zoning requirements since the late 1990s.

The district needs to add space and renovate existing buildings, Superintendent Shelly Riedel said.

But the question lingering is, who is going to pay the bill?

"What we need is intelligent community growth," she said. "Our taxpayers are hit hard with real estate taxes."

She's referring to the loss of some big business projects in the school district. Large businesses pay taxes and ease the burden of the homeowner.

Donegal School District has also raised taxes by higher percentages than others in the county; in 2006, for example, it raised them 19 percent. For years, the district did not raise taxes at all, resulting in a $720,000 deficit and the slashing of hours and benefits for teacher aides.

The district is likely to raise taxes by 5.6 percent for the 2008-09 school year, business manager Terry Hackman said.

And still the schools need work. Donegal Springs Elementary is the exception; it opened in 2003-04, but it's not big enough to handle the needs.

The high school, at 915 Anderson Ferry Road, was built in the early 1950s. Its lime-and-forest-green interior tile walls announce its age. The building was renovated in 1990, but much of its equipment is still from the "Happy Days" era.

But more to the point, Laura Kassab, a junior at Donegal, said her school keeps getting more crowded.

Phillip Martin, also a junior, said he carries his books with him all day because crowded hallways make it too hard to reach his locker and then his class in time.

Kristina Shultz, also a junior at Donegal, has friends and cousins who go to other schools in the county.

"I understand that because of our financial situation, and the population of the school district keeps growing, we are doing the best we can," she said. "But it is frustrating, and you can't help but wish you had what other schools have."

The auditorium isn't large enough, either.

"There are only 804 seats, and we are just shy of 900 students," Felix said.

He doesn't know what he'd do if he had to hold a graduation ceremony indoors.

The space crunch is hard on teachers also.

When teachers have a free period, they must leave their room to grade papers. Another teacher needs to borrow their space.

Seth Dougherty said that's not so much fun when you teach science. This semester, he didn't have to leave his room during prep period.

But another science teacher, he said, is using a history room to teach physics. If he wants to run a lab, he must coordinate it with Dougherty, and then the two switch places.

Nichole Trimmer is a first-year art teacher.

During her first semester she used a cart to shuffle around paints, supplies and unfinished art projects.

"Whenever we did large portrait painting, we had to stop early because we didn't have drying racks," she said. She had to lay students' art on top of her cart and store it in a closet.

And then there's the crunch for athletics. There is only one baseball field at the high school, so Donegal's Indians can't run a track meet and a game at the same time. The foul balls fly onto the track, which in itself needs repairs; it has patches, seals and bumps, Felix said.

Donegal High has no playable soccer field; school officials have turned the school's front yard into one. And yes, there's a concern about students kicking the balls onto the road.

CONTACT US: rmeadows@LNPnews.com or 481-6025