Minn. District Closes 16 Portable Classrooms

By Jessica L. Sandham

Officials in Forest Lake, Minn., thought they had solved their classroom crunch, at least temporarily, by adding portable classrooms to accommodate the district's growing enrollment.

But the discovery this fall of potentially dangerous defects in the construction and installation of 16 prefabricated structures has put the squeeze back on.

Since the portables were declared off-limits, roughly 250 students have been jammed into band rooms, computer labs, and "wherever we can find space for more than an hour at a time," said Don Ruble, the superintendent of the 8,000-student district about 25...