Superintendent explains staff would likely be moved to accommodate need in lower grades
The Falls School District is still determining how it will shuffle educators to various positions next school year following some reductions in positions during Monday’s Falls School Board meeting.
During the meeting, the Falls School Board voted to pass a resolution discontinuing the Response to Intervention coordinator position and the math/science specialist position.
The educators filling those two 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions are both expected to be reassigned as needed, Superintendent Jeff Peura explained to The Journal Tuesday.
Monday’s action was taken following a special school board meeting on April 4, which set program and staffing guidelines to be used when planning next year’s schedule.
During that meeting, the board voted to have four sections for all elementary grades (K-6) except third grade. Third grade is to have three sections under this plan.
That is an addition of second-, fourth- and sixth-grade section. There will also be added a .625 FTE position that will cover for keyboarding/science/reading, Peura explained. There was a reduction of a third-grade section.
During that same April 4 meeting, additions and reductions were also made to the Falls High School schedule. There was an addition of a .20 FTE English composition II/speech class to the current Community Education Partners programs.
Reductions include a .40 FTE social studies position, a .40 FTE science position and a .20 FTE physical education position.
At the high school level, there are to be three sections for seventh-through-ninth grades and four sections for grades 10-12.
The total reductions from the two meetings equal 4.0 FTE and total additions equal 3.825 FTE. Peura explained that several staffing decisions are to be made, but will likely result in current staff being moved to alternate positions within the district as needed.
“Our elementary classrooms are really crowded,” Peura told The Journal. “We know that, so what we try to do is have an impact at an earlier age to help them academically by reducing class sizes.”
Smaller class sizes in the high school level have resulted in those educators likely being reassigned to elementary classrooms. Peura said that putting a class schedule together each year is like solving a puzzle with missing pieces.
Peura explained that the reduction in the RTI program coordinator position does not mean the end of the program. He said that after several years, school officials and staff are capable of managing the program by themselves. That maintenance includes evaluating scores and moving students through the tiers appropriately.
“It’s not that we don’t believe in the Response to Intervention program,” Peura told The Journal. “Our financial constraints are such that we can’t afford to keep programming one educator to be the leader of that.”
He said the coordinator position was needed to get the program running, but the school faculty and staff was getting more comfortable with the program and no longer need a manager assigned specifically to that task.
The board tabled a resolution regarding the termination of one probationary teacher’s contract Monday. The board heard from teacher Angela Schwartz regarding her past performance, and board member Stuart Nordquist requested more time and information before deciding on the matter during the May meeting.
That contract, along with teacher retirements, could play into the district’s overall staffing decisions as the school year comes to a close, Peura said.
Concern with class sections
Math teacher Will Awe expressed concern with the proposed class construction, especially seventh-grade math classes, during the open forum of Monday’s school board meeting.
“If we truly do care about test scores and class sizes, we did not show it two weeks ago (at the April 4 meeting),” Awe told the board.
Awe said he has spoken to multiple administrators about what he said are overcrowded classes in the seventh grade, as well as misplacing students in classes not appropriate for their learning level.
“No one cares about the middle students,” Awe said of those who are at an average learning level. He said that more teaching emphasis is placed on high achievers and those who need the most assistance.
“Who’s looking out for them?” he asked regarding the average student. “They’re going to determine whether we do good or we do bad (on the tests).”
He recommended that there be four seventh-grade sections next year. That would leave room for a lower-level class, two regular classes and an honors class, Awe said. He made proposals for the way the class schedule could look to Falls High School Principal Tim Everson, Awe said.
