Jenkins to Get Extra Teachers

By KAITLIN KEANE

Scituate

School officials in Scituate agreed to add or expand three teaching positions at the Jenkins Elementary School next year, but they warned that it is only a temporary solution for a school faced with overcrowding.

Superintendent Mark Mason said the three new or expanded positions were necessary to keep class sizes from getting unacceptably large.

But the changes will not eliminate the need for complete elementary-school redistricting, he said.

The school committee agreed to add a full-time sixth-grade teacher and a part-time kindergarten teacher and to expand the role of an adaptive physical education teacher who will work throughout the district.

Without an additional sixth-grade class next year, Jenkins classes would have had as many as 32 students – more than at any of the other elementary schools and the intermediate school, Mason said.

The changes will cost the school system about $80,000, which will be covered by this year’s budget because of unexpected resignations or retirements, he said.

Mason said the additional positions will not change the fact that neighborhoods will be part of a major redistricting plan that begins during the 2008-09 school year.

Elementary-school redistricting has been done twice since 2002, when the Jenkins School was opened to alleviate overcrowding at other schools. But new homes and general neighborhood changes have since made the school one of the most crowded in Scituate.

Kaitlin Keane may be reached at kkeane@ledger.com.

Originally published by By KAITLIN KEANE, The Patriot Ledger.

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