Pine-Richland High School is fat with students and busting at the bricks -- soon to surpass its capacity of 1,500 students.

A report by the High School Expansion Committee, a 44-member group that includes community members, staff and students, predicts a 48 percent growth in enrollment over the next 10 years, reaching to 2,047 students by 2017.

"Pine-Richland's 2008 high school enrollment is expected to be 1,450," states the report, which was presented to the school board Tuesday.

The estimates are based on a district demographic study by Shelby Stewman, professor of demography and sociology at Carnegie Mellon University.

The high school, originally built to accommodate 750 students, was dedicated in 1993. It was expanded and rededicated in 2000 to meet a population of 1,500.

"According to Dr. Stewman's demographic analysis, we are rapidly approaching and will soon surpass the high school's functional capacity," the committee's report states.

The report encourages the school board to have an architectural firm conduct a feasibility study on how to accommodate the expected growth.

The committee asked that the feasibility study take into account several considerations, including:

• Preserving the 9-12 high school grade configuration.

• Structuring small learning communities to create a small school environment within a large high school.

• Expanding the music and art areas.

• Increasing science laboratory space.

• Continuing to build a 21st century learning environment, which includes video conferencing or e-learning.

• Economizing the use of space, which could include building a multilevel parking garage on campus.

• Expanding the central administrative office by relocating offices to a complex away from the high school building.

• Making safety and security a high priority.

• Constructing a safe bus loop.

• Designing an area specifically for student activities, tutoring and student collaboration.

• Preserving athletic field space.

• Considering construction of a new gymnasium,

• Evaluating expansion of the high school's pool.

Pine-Richland is one of the few school districts in Pennsylvania experiencing continuous growth, according to the state Department of Education.

The district has already addressed some of the growth issues by constructing the new Eden Hall Upper Elementary School to house fourth, fifth and sixth grades to ease overcrowding at the district's three elementary schools -- Hance, Richland and Wexford. Moving the sixth grade to the new school also helps ease overcrowding at Pine-Richland Middle School.