ASCENSION PARISH - Sitting on the corner of Highway 929 and Parker Road is the future site of Prairieville High School. Drivers can see equipment and the structure of the building from the road.

With the population in Ascension Parish growing rapidly, a new school is supposed to stop overcrowding, which means redistricting the current attendance zones to balance the number of students at each school.

“The effort here is to, as much as possible, relieve overcrowded schools, while at the same time taking into account anticipated growth so if possible, schools in the future don't become unexpectedly or unnecessarily overcrowded,” Ascension Schools Superintendent David Alexander said.

Drew Landry lives in Prairieville. He says traffic makes getting to school on time a real challenge. He hopes that the new campus will make his morning drive easier.

“We look forward to it. We live only a block or two away so it’ll be convenient. I know the children usually take the bus or commute with their own vehicle. The traffic on Highway 73 - if you don’t get there at a certain point it’s so backed up. You know if we don’t make it by a certain point they're going to be late,” Landry said.

Many wonder how this will affect older students who have friends, clubs and athletic opportunities at their current school. Student Alexis Landry says that she’s excited, but knows that there will be limited extracurricular activities at the new school.

“The clubs and sports options won’t be available right away. There’s kids out there that like the activity after school so it’s like you’re going to have to give the school time, so maybe transferring,” Landry said.

Ascension Parish says the school could be completed by fall of 2024.

A list of public meeting to discuss redistricting attendance zones can be found here.