Photos by Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

A student tries to cross Grandin Road on Monday to get to the high school. Students say traffic is worse just before and after the school day.

Students scuttle across the road Monday morning to get to school. School officials expect fewer students in coming years.

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• School enrollment

Message board: Discuss the issue of overcrowding at Patrick Henry High.

Dozens of Patrick Henry students were disciplined for staging a sit-in protesting shorter lunch periods Monday, underscoring the brand-new Roanoke school's overcrowding problem.

The 1,750-student capacity school opened last month with a slew of ceremonies that drew city officials praising the city's investment in its children. But already the $54 million school houses 1,935 students, 185 more than it was designed for.

That has prompted school administrators to tighten lunch periods from 30 to 20 minutes in order to add a fifth lunch period, triggering the students' protest. The first lunch period at PH now starts at 11:18 a.m. and the last one ends at 1:11 p.m.

This year's enrollment at PH is 46 students higher than it was last year, something of a paradox considering that, overall, the school district has 169 fewer students than last year, a trend that is likely to continue.

William Fleming High School, which recently started construction on its own $57 million, 1,764-student building, has 1,604 students this year, down 65 from last year.

PH Principal Connie Ratcliffe said the extra lunch period was a safety measure, designed to reduce the number of students in the cafeteria at any given time. Whereas last year 500 students would pack the cafeteria at each lunch period, this year's lunches range from 261 to 390 students "in order to eliminate the long lines that went out into the hallway," Ratcliffe said.

Protest organizers sent out text messages to students Monday morning informing them of the protest. Ratcliffe said about 60 students took part in the sit-in in the school's auditorium. She said she spoke with the students and received a petition from them. Several students interviewed Monday put the number involved at closer to 70.

Ratcliffe said some participants were written up for being late to class, as required by school policy, but said she was unaware of anybody being suspended. The school also sent a letter home to parents about the protest.

"I think students need to be heard, but they also need to listen," she said.

Students said Monday they had a hard time finishing lunch in 20 minutes, especially if they had to wait in line at the cafeteria.

"You don't have time to buy lunch," said Ashley Williamson, a junior, adding that she manages to avoid the worst of the lines by bringing her lunch with her.

Several students also said that crowding at the school has increased their class sizes, putting pressure on teachers.

"They can't get control of the class," said Johanna Gauss, a 10th-grader who said her largest class has about 32 students.

According to the school system, PH has an average of 25.2 students per teacher this year.

To deal with the crowding, about 17 teachers said they will teach an extra sixth class period a day for more money, rather than their usual five, Ratcliffe said.

While that practice may be necessary this year, it has concerned both Superintendent Rita Bishop and some members of the school board.

"We really need to do a much better job of staffing our high schools early," Bishop said last week. "I have never seen the number of extra periods we have right now in this division."

Board member Suzanne Moore, a retired PH teacher, said she was worried that the longer work days would burn out veteran teachers.

"I retired at 50 because I was worn out," she said.

Patrick Henry's crowding also has made traffic difficult just before and after the school day, students say.

"Getting in and out is a little chaotic. There's really no direction," Ashley said.

On Monday morning, traffic snaked from the school's entrance onto Brandon Avenue with one string of cars trying to enter the school while another was attempting to leave after dropping off students.

But school officials expect the number of PH students to shrink in the years to come.

"I think the high schools demographically are the highest they're going to be. The demographic trend is going to decrease a bit," said Ratcliffe, who also pointed to new housing construction in the Patrick Henry attendance area as a cause for the crowding.

Ratcliffe, who last year was the principal of Woodrow Wilson Middle School, one of PH's feeder schools, said she recalled a few classes in recent years that were significantly larger than they had been.

That bubble is now in high school, creating the temporary overcrowding, she said.