SACS Eyes Shift in Science Personnel
Posted on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 12:00 CDT
By Ashley Smith, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.
May 21--The fallout from tax cuts is already being felt at Southwest Allen County Schools.
Superintendent Brian Smith said the district has decided its seven elementary school science specialists can be better utilized as teachers in regular classrooms. The shift, set to take effect this fall, will lower class sizes and lessen the strain on next year's budget.
"We've got to cut about a million dollars," said Smith, who expects to lose about $1.6 million by 2010 from legislation reducing the state's reliance on property taxes. "We're able to start doing this and no one loses their jobs."
Because two teachers are retiring after this year and one is resigning, the net effect will be the addition of four teachers. The district wants to maintain an 18:1 student-teacher ratio for kindergarten and first grades; a 20:1 ratio for second and third grade; and a 24:1 ratio for fourth and fifth grades.
"We know that in order to keep the class sizes small, changes were going to have to be made," said Covington Elementary School Principal Fred Graf. "We are excited because we are still keeping our great teachers."
Layoffs are still possible if a referendum worth $2.6 million annually to pay for additional teachers does not pass in the next couple of years.
Smith said the science labs the specialists helped operate will not be eliminated, but teachers and, perhaps, parents will have to help with support.
"Our parents are incredible and a huge part of what we do," Graf said.
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Source: The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
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