A ninth grade class has 35 students
LITTLEFORK — The atmosphere at the Littlefork-Big Falls School Board meeting Wednesday was positive, as school officials feel the year is off to a good start.
The meeting focused on several recognitions, enrollment reports, discussions on class changes and hiring a junior high softball coach.
Fred Seybert, superintendent and K-12 principal, began the meeting by recognizing that L-BF’s football team has a 2-0 record and the volleyball team is also having a good start to their season.
“The school year is going very well and we’ve had minimal problems,” he said.
Seybert updated the board on enrollment figures. This year, the elementary school has 163 students — just one more student than last year. The high school has 155 students; last year there were 151.
Seybert said he is pleased with the numbers because there are a lot of students in the state that are heading to the Twin Cities for school. With the addition of five students, about a $29,000 increase in funding is provided to the district.
Seybert continued the meeting by acknowledging that there is currently a ninth grade class with 35 students.
“I’ve talked to a number of teachers and we’ve had discussions about what we can do about this,” he said. “We decided there needs to be some kind of a change because our school prides itself in its small class sizes.”
Christopher Bachmeier, dean of students and athletic director, is exploring options to change schedules around to resolve this issue.
“The cost to make these changes would be between $24,000-$30,000,” Seybert explained. “The reason for that range is dependent on where the instructors are on a salary scale. We can afford to make these changes and it will not have a negative effect. This is important for students, staff and the rest of the public.”
“What we’ve done about this is we’ve looked at schedules and displaced 12 students,” Bachmeier said. “Those 12 students will be put in other classes. It will work out with minimal disruption.”
Tom Millerbernd, a health and physical education teacher at L-BF who was on hand in the audience, said that as a parent and a teacher, he thinks lowering that class size is an excellent idea.
“I want to thank the staff involved and Mr. Seybert for considering this. Having a daughter with 35 in a class is not a positive thing,” he said.
The board approved the and Bachmeier will be visiting with the students involved this week.
The final item on the board’s agenda was discussion to hire a junior high softball coach. The idea was brought up by board member and softball coach Mike Imhof.
“The need is there,” Imhof said. “The coach would be in charge of seventh- and eighth-grader players.”
“This would have to be negotiated by the union and board if it is going to be filled,” Bachmeier stated. “The sticky point of the situation is that we’re not in a negotiation year. I imagine, however, that the union would be OK with opening it up to fill this need. I don’t see it being a problem, we just need to follow certain protocol.”
According to Bachmeier, the position needs to be opened and offered to union members first.
“I think there’s a need for this position and I would be in favor of this,” Millerbernd said.
Imhof said that a junior high softball coach would cost approximately $1,000.
“This will boost our softball program,” Imhof concluded.
The board motion and approved to bring the issue to table for the union to discuss and consider. More information on their decision will be provided after their October meeting.
