Eugene school size proposals due today.(Schools)(The "target" minimum of 300 could affect half of the district's elementary schools)

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

Crest Drive Elementary School Principal Joe Alsup knows the name of every child at his south hills school, and those of most of their parents, too.

Across town at Bertha Holt Elementary, Principal Kevin Boling recognizes most kids when he sees them, "but I frequently blank on names," he said. And parents?

"It's often the case that they have to introduce themselves to me," he admitted.

The discrepancy most likely has nothing to do with the administrators' respective memories nor the extent of their desire to bond with families. It's a function of size.

With nearly 530 students, Bertha Holt is the district's biggest elementary school, the product of the closure and merger of two smaller schools five years ago. Crest Drive, with 250, is far more typical.

In fact, the average enrollment at Eugene's elementary schools - 301 - is the smallest, by at least 100, of any Oregon school district with more than 12,000 students (Eugene has about 17,000). Statewide, the average elementary school has 380 children - and that includes dozens of tiny rural schools.

Things in Eugene could change, though, if…