Middle school enrollment growth will be a key topic when the Palo Alto Board of Education meets Tuesday, May 22, in a special study session.

In a time of rising headcount but declining revenue per student, the board is wrestling with where and how to come up with more space. Under conservative projections, the district's middle-school capacity of 2,900 will be reached in three years, district staff members have said.

At a study session April 24, board members indicated they were willing to wait a year to make hard decisions, with community comment and suggestions gathered in the meantime.

In addition to middle school planning, discussion at Tuesday's meeting is expected to focus on an apparently non-controversial adjustment to the boundary between Addison and Walter Hays schools.

The study session will begin at 1 p.m. in Conference Room A of school district headquarters, 25 Churchill Ave. The board is scheduled to adjourn to closed session to discuss legal matters at 2:15 p.m., and will reconvene later Tuesday, at 6:30 p.m., for a regular board meeting.

— Chris Kenrick

Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.