District 194 will need 20 more teachers to accommodate growth
Posted: 3/15/02
by Lori Hall
Staff Writer
Preliminary staffing estimates show the need for about 20 additional teachers next year to accommodate Lakeville District 194ís growing student population.
The 2002-03 preliminary staff levels were presented to the School Board during its March 12 meeting.
To maintain current class-size levels, the district will need to hire additional teachers at the elementary, junior high and high school levels.
Director of Administrative Services Tom Coughlin said the district met with every building principal and program director to review each schoolís need for instructors.
He also said this yearís staff planning was unusual because of the districtís contingency plan, which was recently endorsed in the districtís budget assumptions.
With enrollment projected to grow by 104 students at the elementary level next year, administration is recommending 5.1 full-time teaching positions. It also asked for another two full-time positions to keep in reserve in case the numbers continue to grow during the summer. The total elementary student population for next year is estimated at 5,543.
The junior high student population is projected to increase by 132 students, bringing the total to 2,468. As a result, administration is recommending another 4.8 full-time positions for next year. Century Junior High will be adding another team because of the growth of students, according to Coughlin. The other two junior highs will absorb the added students into their existing teams.
Also at the junior high level, there is a request for a half-time dean position and a full-time dean intern position. A dean intern was placed last summer at McGuire Junior High and the district is now requesting the intern dean be instilled as a full-time position. The new intern dean would be placed at Century Junior High, whose class size warrants additional support, according to Coughlin.
Growing to 2,085 students, Lakeville High School is expecting another 72 new students next year. To keep class sizes around 29 students for core subjects and around 24 students for electives, administration is recommending another 3.6 full-time teaching positions for next year.
Special Education needs another 3.6 full-time teaching positions, which is lower than what the district typically sees, according to Coughlin. He said about 11 percent of the districtís student population uses some type of service in Special Education.
The Area Learning Center is also requesting another .5 full-time position to accommodate the number of students being served.
In all, the administrationís recommendation totaled 19.1 full-time teaching positions with another two full-time positions in reserve.
Keeping the same level of clerical support as this year, the district will need another 29 hours a day of district-wide support, said Coughlin. This would translate into nine additional hours a day at the elementary level, 12 hours a day at the junior highs and eight hours a day at the high school.
School nurse services, custodial services and co-curricular services have yet to be determined, said Coughlin, who added the plan will continue to be refined as the new school year approaches.
The School Board took no action concerning the 2002-03 preliminary staffing levels.
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