Board Ponders Teaching Options

WAITSBURG - It was standing-room-only in the Preston Hall science room March 12, as parents and school staff waited to offer input during a School Board work session preceding the regular board meeting. Thirty minutes had been allotted to discuss the current 4th - 6th grade class configuration, which is presenting "instruc­tional and scheduling chal­lenges," according to Super­intendent Carol Clarke. The session ran well over an hour and still didn't allow time for everyone to comment.

Due to declining enroll­ment, the 6th grade teaching position was not replaced after the retirement of Russ Knopp in 2012. Instead, 6th grade students were moved from Preston Hall to the elementary school, where 4th - 6th grades are now combined. In actuality, the classes are combined only for three short "homeroom" sessions each day. They then separate to attend the major­ity of classes by grade.

A typical day for a sixth grade student in Mrs. Fisher's class has him meeting for combined homeroom for 10 minutes in the morn­ing before heading to Mrs. Douglas' class for math. The student would then go to Preston Hall for Language Arts, followed by lunch and recess back at the elementary school. A second 15 minute homeroom session, during which the teacher may read a story, starts off afternoon classes. The student then heads to the high school for band or P.E., depending on the day of the week. Next is science at Preston Hall, then back to the elemen­tary school for a 35 minute "skills enrichment" time in homeroom where students can finish homework, read or play games.

Parents are concerned at the loss of actual instruction time that is instead spent on travel between buildings and rooms, quieting students, and "unproductive" home­room sessions. Parents pre­fer that the classes be more self-contained. Moving sixth grade from Preston Hall to the elementary school cost those students an additional 30 minutes of instruction since elementary students are released at 2:40 rather than 3:10 like the middle and high schools.

The Board is dealing with the challenge of how to fund a teacher for every grade when enrollment continues to decline and the District already staffs 19 certified teachers -- well above the 17.765 they receive state funding for.

State funding guideline ratios begin at 1 teacher for every 20.85 students at the K-1 grade level and increase to 1 teacher for every 28.74 students in high school. Waitsburg's teacher/student ratio is below allocation in all grade levels. The current student/teacher ratio for grades K-3 is 1: 19.51 (5.72 below allocation) with the discrepancy increasing by grade to a ratio of 1:11.94 (16 below allocation) for grades 9-12.

Projected enrollments based on current numbers show a continued anticipated decline. A chart submitted by Superintendent Carol Clarke, that rolls each class up to the next year and uses the Kindergarten class size of 17 students for future incoming years, shows an overall drop from the current 278.28 students to a project­ed 258.2 students in 2018.

Clarke presented the board with three possible op­tions and anticipated results to address the intermediate grade concerns.

Option 1: Provide one class per grade level for grades K-8 using existing staff. This option would pose no extra cost to the District. The sixth grade would move to Preston Hall so middle school teachers could teach some of the classes. High school staff would need to teach four classes at Preston Hall which would reduce the number of high school elec­tives or core classes by four.

Option 2: Hire a full-time sixth grade teacher. The Dis­trict would absorb the cost which will result in a deple­tion of fund balance. One general education teacher at Preston Hall would teach an elective and the other will be available to teach at the high school, which will have more electives and core classes to offer.

Option 3: Hire a part-time (6/10) sixth grade teacher. The District would absorb the cost and the new hire would need to be "highly qualified" in multiple sub­ject areas. Two sixth grade periods would be covered by "highly qualified" high school or middle school teachers. The high school would have one to two fewer electives to offer.

Clarke also noted that high school staff has request­ed that all freshman and sophomore classes, regard­less of size, be split for all core subjects. This would re­sult in five fewer electives or core classes. For the fresh­man class of 2018, which currently has 22 students, this would result in classes of 11 students in english, algebra, physical science, ag science and health.

Some attendees ex­pressed the opinion that the General Fund -- currently at $487,212 -- has reserves sufficient to fund a dedicated sixth grade teacher and that passage of the recent levy speaks to the importance of a high quality education to the community. Others suggested that if electives or core classes were cut at the high school, students could pick them up through the Running Start program or the new SEA-TECH Skills Center at Walla Walla Com­munity College.

"It's a complex problem and there's no easy solution," said Board Chairman Ross Hamann. Parents requested another work session and Hamann said they would be notified if one was planned.

Clarke said she has not yet been instructed to set up a second work session. The agenda item regarding cer­tificated staffing at the sub­sequent Board meeting was tabled for further discussion.