School becomes known for troubles Sunday, June 08, 2008 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Every weekday morning, Jessica Voll makes the quick hike from homeroom. She leaves the main Phillipsburg High School building and heads across campus to the trailer that houses her first class of the day. Just talking about the rain and cold weather she's walked through between classes almost made her shiver on a recent warm day. After four years of trekking to trailers, the senior is ready to graduate. "I don't want to have to do it anymore," Voll said. She is one of the high school's more than 1,700 students who attend a school notorious for the 31 trailers clustered on its campus. She said her younger brother opted to attend Warren County Technical School rather than take on Phillipsburg High's facilities issues. Her brother won't be alone. One hundred fifteen students eligible to attend the high school chose to go elsewhere. The district offers a comprehensive program with excellent academic courses, and it's a shame it is known for building capacity problems, school officials said. In 1996, the first four trailers went up as temporary solutions to the school's space crunch. Since then, groups of them have come in waves as the district awaited the new school the state promised to build. Students and parents have long since deserved a new building, high school Assistant Principal Staci Horne said. District Business Administrator Bill Poch said many of the classrooms are 500 to 600 square feet, below state guidelines of about 800 square feet. Its small library and cafeterias look and feel like those in today's elementary schools. Hallways are crowded, some lockers are in alcoves and students must be sent off site for some gym programs the state requires. The trailers increase the total number of entrances at the high school, heightening security concerns, officials said. Seven security guards cover the school, and a new security substation sits near a cluster of trailers. "It limits (the teachers') capability to deliver lessons in a variety of ways," acting Superintendent George Chando said. Teaching in trailers means being disconnected from the rest of the school, English teacher Evan Weller said. Communication with other staff members, working in groups or incorporating the library into lessons is more difficult than it would be in the main building, Weller said. Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.