An unexpected surge in student enrollment at Greywolf Elementary School has classroom sizes at their maximum and at least two specialists at the school using their planning period to compensate for the growth.
The Sequim School Board on Monday night agreed to compensate Greywolf science teacher Carla Morton and physical education teacher Doug Hastings an extra 0.2 of their salary compensation for the large class sizes.
“We’re essentially buying out their planning time,” Sequim schools superintendent Gary Neal said.
Teachers normally have five teaching periods and a planning period. With the larger class sizes, the specialists will work through those planning periods.
“This is nearly a last choice,” Neal said. “It’s certainly a short-term solution.”
The proposal has verbal approval from the Sequim Educators Association, the local bargaining group for Sequim teachers, representative Jon Eekhoff said.
Part of the problem, he said is simply a classroom space issue.
“Since the school year started, we’ve had large classes (in those grades) but we don’t really have a place to put them,” he said. “This (move) is the best for the students.”
The district budgeted for the equivalent of 182 students in grades 4-5 (94 students in fourth, 88 students in fifth) at Greywolf to begin the school year. On the first day, Greywolf had a combined 195 students in those grades, and as of December has 197 fourth- and fifth-graders.
Numbers are similar at Helen Haller, Sequim’s other elementary school, with 202 students expected in grades 4-5 and about 207 showing on the first day.
The situation was not predictable, Neal said, looking back at third- and fourth-grade numbers from the 2015-2016 school year.
“That says something of a transient school population,” Neal said. “Kids are moving around and they are staying here. It’s a good scenario; we’re adding kids.”
Neal said families at Greywolf were offered a chance to shift to Helen Haller. The district has capped class sizes in those grades at 28 students, Neal said.
Overall, the district has the equivalent of about 2,815 full-time students (not including Running Start students); it had budgeted for about 2,770.
Pro-con on levies
When voters in the Sequim School District get their special election ballots, they’ll likely see an argument for passage of two school levy proposals but not an argument against.
The district seeks approval of a four-year, $26.5 million replacement Education Programs and Operations (EP&O) levy and a $5.75 million levy that would pay for upgrades to the district central kitchen and demolish the unused portion of the Sequim Community School. The district’s current EP&O levy expires at the end of 2017. The special election is Feb. 14.
The district is required to offer “pro” and “con” arguments for both proposals and sent out notices in the community in local newspapers, via its website and Facebook accounts, district interim finance director Heidi Hietpas said. Citizens for Sequim Schools, the grassroots organization dedicated to promoting school levy and bond proposals and other Sequim School District projects, offered to write “pro” arguments for both levies.
The district did not receive any offers for the “con” side, Hietpas said, so a notice indicating no community members expressed an interest in forming an opposing argument will be offered to voters.
Board meeting times
Sequim School Board meetings will start at 6 p.m. in 2017 after board members unanimously agreed to bump back the starting time 30 minutes. The board is having fewer workshops than they did at the beginning of the school year, they said.
Henrikson re-elected president
Board member Robin Henrikson, who was not present at Monday’s meeting, was re-elected to the position of board president, with remaining board members unanimously approving the move.
The same held true for Bev Horan’s vice president position.
Jim Stoffer remains the legislative representative for the Sequim school board, a two-year position.
Other board action:
In other Sequim school board action, directors agreed to:
• accept a letter of resignation from special education para-educator Kathryn Schaller;
• offer a certificated music teach position at Greywolf to Vicki Helwick;
• approve an overnight travel request for the Sequim High School boys basketball team for a Dec. 28-29 tournament in Seattle;
• offer a certificated position to high school social-emotional learning teacher position to Katie Ward, and,
• declare as surplus Kubota tractor.
The next school board meeting is 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3.
