“Westside Elementary School has gone up in numbers in fourth grade, which means, by law that we’re going to have to post a fourth grade position. They can only have so many students per class and only average so many, and they’re above that number,” said Macon County Director of Schools Dan Hampton.
Westside Principal David Flynn also appeared before the board to request a kindergarten teacher. “I ran the numbers for you just so you could see what we’ve got,” said Flynn.
The best solution he had to stave his high enrollment was to move one of his second grade teachers to kindergarten, but this would have created a second grade classroom with 25 students, which is the state limit for teacher to student ratio.
“So, we’re going to solve one problem by creating a second problem,” said Flynn.
“You can see that one classroom is low. It’s an inclusion classroom. Every grade level has that special needs classroom in it, but the other two are sitting at 22 and 23.
“That’s entirely too high for kindergarten. Is it under the state limit? Yes, but we’re talking about six year olds, and, on the beginning test, several of those children scored in the single digits. We’re talking about some very high needs children.”
Flynn stressed the importance of keeping the inclusion classroom enrollment low.
“Five years ago, we were 86 percent below proficient. With inclusion, we’re now 11 percent below proficient. That’s huge. I feel like the inclusion program is worth saving, but it’s over if we’re going to put 25 kids in a classroom.”
Board member Jimmy Cook agreed that the numbers were high.
“Gentlemen, this is the most critical classroom we have in kindergarten,” he said.
Fairlane Elementary School Principal Linda Smith also addressed the board.
“Mine have 19, and that’s too many,” she said.
“We have 11 kindergarten teachers, and we have 206 kindergarten students enrolled,” said Smith, noting that the average entrance exam scores for her students was 68 percent, a failing grade, with several students scoring in the tenth percentile.
“We have 20 ELL students in kindergarten this year, more than we’ve ever had. Some of them don’t speak a word of English.
“Six of my kindergarten teachers have 19 students. I know you have to go by state guidelines, but we’re educators. We have to look at what the kids need.”
According to Supervisor of Instruction Shawn Carter, classrooms in grades K through third can have up to 25 students in them; however, the average of the number of students in each classroom cannot exceed 20.
“And our average does that,” said Flynn. “We can make those averages, but we still have those two kindergarten classrooms sitting at 22 and 23. Well, if the truth holds up, you know when fall break comes over and Christmas break, they’re going to come and roll in some more. We can only put four more kids in there before I have to put them in the inclusion classroom. I won’t have any choice. We’ll be at the state limit in those two classrooms. It just isn’t going to work.”
Chairman Steve Walton raised the financial problems the school system faces.
“David, we appreciate you doing this. We want to know, but, the bottom line is, money’s tight everywhere, like Mr. Cook said before. The state’s not giving us a whole lot more money, the county’s not giving us any more. In fact, they want to give us less. I don’t know that we’ve got the money, if we’re still meeting the state requirements, to buy down our enrollment,”
Hampton pointed out that there was already an open growth position worked into the budget for the 2010-2011 school year, which the fourth grade teacher could fill.
It was also noted that the state would eventually pay for the fourth grade teacher because of growth, but would not pay for the kindergarten teachers as long as class size remained within the limits prescribed by state guidelines.
“This is not something that we want for the rest of our years. I would like our numbers to drop back down, but we need it this year bad,” said Flynn.
After a great deal of debate, Transportation Director Larry Holland offered to make a sacrifice to fund the kindergarten teachers’ salaries.
“Mr. Chairman, if it helps, I can do without two busses. Because, these kids gotta be taught,” he said.
The board then voted unanimously to create the two new positions to applause from those in attendance. However, they did later purchase a new special needs bus, which was paid for with stimulus money. Hampton says that he hopes to find another place to take money from the budget. though.
The board also voted to:
*Hire a new teacher assistant at Macon County High School to help coordinate the peer tutoring program.
*Add extra days to the MCJH guidance counselor’s year to allow for the extra days that she has had to work.
*Replace the hood in the kitchen at Westside Elementary. The hoods at Fairlane, Lafayette Elementary, Central Elementary, and Red Boiling Springs School will also have to be replaced. The fire marshall has been writing up the schools for outdated hoods.
*Approve the Tennessee School Nutrition Standards Act Certification of Compliance for 10-11 SY.
*Approve school fees for 10-11 SY
*Approve school budgets for 10-11 SY
*Approve the School Disciplinary Hearing Association for 10-11 SY. The same members will be on the committee that were on the committee last year.
*Approve the MCHS-Trousdale Co-Op in golf
*Approve extended contract for the 10-11 SY
*Approve a budget resolution for the County Commission to pay for portable classrooms and busses.
*Approve Pre-K Budget 10-11 SY
*Request a line survey for the Red Boiling Springs School property.
The board will discuss the following at their work session meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. at the Board of Education central office.
*Coaching supplements
*Students enrolled from other counties.
*Moonlighting
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