Although nothing is imminent, the Linn-Mar Community School District has positioned itself to add a second high school if necessary.

Superintendent Katie Mulholland presented the possibility of adding a second high school, if enrollment dictates, in her message published in the district's handbook for the 2013-14 school year.

"We are always very conscious of the numbers," Mulholland told the Metro Sports Report. "We don't have the numbers right now (to add a second high school), but we have to be prepared."

In her handbook message, Mulholland stated: "The revenue from both (the one cent sales tax revenue and Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) will be devoted to the ongoing maintenance of the district's building and grounds and completing the next five years of the Ten-Year Facility Plan which was approved by the Board of Education in May.

"Initiatives include a complete renovation of the current high school building with an eye toward positioning the district for a second high school if enrollment per grade level should reach the 700 mark."

Numbers show Linn-Mar is getting closer to that figure. In the latest Iowa BEDS enrollment report released in March, Linn-Mar ranked ninth in the state with an enrollment of 1,408 students in grades 9-11 for the 2012-13 school year, a gain of 31 from 2011-12. It is the biggest school in the Metro area, just ahead of Cedar Rapids Kennedy, which ranks 10th at 1,306 students. Linn-Mar was the only Metro school that showed an increase from 2011-12 to 2012-13.

West Des Moines Valley topped the list for 2012-13 at 2,036 in grades 9-11.

The BEDS numbers are used to determine what athletic classification schools are placed in from year to year. With the senior class added in, Linn-Mar's enrollment was just short of 1,900 for the 2012-13 school year.

Mulholland said it would take class sizes of 650-700 per class before it would be time to split. And if a new school were to open, she indicated it would be first populated with freshmen and sophomores, allowing those already at the current high school to finish their four years.

A new high school is opening this year in Ankeny and students must attend the school based on their residence. Mulholland prefers the frosh/soph plan for Linn-Mar, if a second high school is added.

"I think that type of plan would work out very well," Mulholland said of her vision for a new high school in the district. "I like that plan much better than the blended model."

She said that if there were under 1,000 students in each school, there would be a chance that some classes and programs might not be available in both schools.

With the future in mind, the district has already acquired an 80-acre property on the corner of the C Avenue NE Extension and Echo Hill Road for a new high school, a 15-acre property east of Echo Hill Elementary School for a potential new middle school and 15 acres off Highway 13 for a future elementary school.

"We are one of the larger districts in the state," Mulholland said. "We always have an eye toward the future."