The Hamilton County School Board’s School Facilities Committee invited alumni, teachers and parents of the Howard School to sit in on a meeting on Monday about overpopulation.

While the board says the meeting was not organized for open forum, concerned community members spoke out about their concerns for the school that sits at 180% capacity.

"Ya’ll know its overcrowded, we’ve been overcrowded, this ain’t something new. We can’t keep bandaiding this, we got to fix it," says Howard School alumna Cassandra Robinson.

According to the county, 1,550 students attend the Howard School.

However, the district says the capacity of the school, excluding portables, is 854.

At the last school board meeting one student told us that the school is so overcrowded that lunch lines are often very long and some students don’t get to eat.

“By the time lines get down, lunch is over, a lot of kids don’t even get to eat," says Aalyssia Yates, Howard School student.

Gertha Lee-Sharp from the South Chattanooga Community Association says that just this year alone there have been numerous teachers having to share and rotate teaching areas due to space shortage.

The school has introduced portable classrooms but some parents say this is not enough and they need more permanent solutions.

Commissioner Joe Graham sat in on Monday's meeting and shared concerns about lockers.

Although there are 1,550 students, there are only roughly 900 lockers.

The same school recently issued a ‘no back pack policy,' something that creates even more of a challenge for students.

“It’s a tough conversation, not palatable for a lot of people, not even for myself," says District 5 School Board member Karitsa Jones.

Jones says the board is in a hard position.

The heavy population growth in the South Chattanooga area limits the abilities of the school board.

They are looking at both immediate solutions and long term solutions.

"Possibily looking at utilizing some space currently in Howard Connect that’s not being utilized, looking at possible satellite locations temporarily," says Jones.

Another idea was to use Howard Connect in its entirety and move the program to another building.

Overcrowding at Howard will not be solved over night, but ultimately it's the students who will be affected the most.

“As a teacher, I know that one of the things our kids need most is consistency," a teacher said at the meeting. "While the inclination is to change something immediately, we have to consider the affect that’s gonna have on our kids."

Howard has the largest enrollment in the district, according to Hamilton County Schools.