Budget constraints make it impractical for the Hampton school board to add more first-grade classes at two elementary schools, Superintendent John C. Hoover said.

Dr. Hoover responded last Thursday to concerns raised by about a dozen parents over plans to transport a handful of students to Central Elementary School this fall.

First-grade classes at the district's Wyland and Poff buildings reached their maximum size of 25 students last month.

Additional students starting first grade from areas served by those schools will be transported from bus stops near their homes to Central, the district has announced. Central, the largest of the district's elementary schools, still has room for more students in its four first-grade sections.

At this point, four students living in areas of Hampton ordinarily served by Poff and Wyland will attend Central this year, Dr. Hoover said.

"We have proposed a perfectly good educational alternative," he said. "We have had experience with a similar situation, and we know the kids involved have thrived."

The superintendent was referring to the busing of about 15 students from Poff to Central during a construction project. "We learned how to do this effectively and efficiently, and there was no adverse impact," he said.

Adding first-grade sections at both Poff and Wyland would cost about $120,000, Dr. Hoover estimated. "These are difficult economic times, and we have to look at the needs of the entire community."

At the same June 17 meeting at which parents sought alternatives to sending their children to Central Elementary, the school board approved a 2009-10 budget that raised property taxes.

The $40 million spending plan will be financed with a 0.35-mill increase in the real estate tax. The new rate is 20.88 mills. The owners of a home assessed at $150,000 will see their school tax bill rise about $52 to $3,132.

Students being transported to Central will not face long bus rides, Dr. Hoover said. Hampton School District, like the township from which it takes its name, is an almost perfect square, covering about 16 square miles. "None of our buildings is more than a few miles from any of the others," he said.

Both Poff and Wyland will maintain waiting lists for first-graders in the areas they serve. If a place opens in a class that is now full, the first student on the list will be reassigned to the neighborhood school, according to a June 22 notice posted on the district's Web site, www.htsd.k12.pa.us.

The school board is not scheduled to meet again until Aug. 19. Dr. Hoover said it was unlikely that the board would discuss the topic again.