Elementary may cut teachers, district says
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
Some Hillsboro Elementary teachers may be laid off next year if district funding declines, the USD 410 school board heard Monday night.
Under the current state education funding system, Kansas school districts receive a certain amount of money per student enrolled. And over the past few years, the number of students in the Durham-Hillsboro-Lehigh district has steadily declined.
This school year, 694.5 full-time equivalent students are enrolled. This number isn't the exact head count of students enrolled, but it takes the average of full-time and half-time students.
That number is expected to decrease to a full-time equivalent enrollment of 673.5 next year, according to figures presented to the school board.
If elementary teaching positions are cut, they will most likely affect the lower grades, mainly kindergarten and first grade. The largest class in the elementary school is sixth grade, with 60 students, but grade enrollment declines steadily from there, with 37 kindergarten students as the smallest grade level.
If next year's kindergarten class continues with that trend, the district may consider going to two sections of kindergarten next year instead of three, said Superintendent Gordon Mohn. But it's not a step the district wants to take.
"I don't think we're quite there yet," Mohn said.
The staffing dilemma echoes the problems that districts across Kansas are facing: already tight budgets that could become tighter if the state legislature doesn't find a way to increase school funding.
"I think it's fairly certain that we're going to have to look at some cuts next year," Mohn said.
The teachers that may lose their jobs have already been notified of the possibility, he said. But he stressed that nothing is definitive yet.
No final decisions will be made until after kindergarten pre-enrollment, which will be held on March 21 and 22.
Although the state has no regulations concerning the number of students in a class, keeping class sizes small remains a priority for USD 410. This year, there are three sections of kindergarten: two classes with 13 students each, and one class with 11 students.
To calculate district funding, the state uses a formula that takes the number of students and adds weighted numbers based on other factors. That final number is multiplied by $3,870, the amount of state funding per pupil.
According to those guidelines, the general fund budget for the year 2001-2002 is $4,243,068. If enrollment declines, next year's budget will be $4,176,504 — $66,564 less than this year.
But it was another area of district funding that was a major topic of discussion at Monday night's meeting — special education funding.
Special education teachers that work with district students aren't employed by the USD 410 — their salaries come from the Marion County Special Education Cooperative.
Recently, the board of MCSEC has shown concern that their special ed teachers were being used to teach "regular" classes.
But under state Department of Education guidelines, this is permitted if the district follows a Collaborative Teaching Model. This ensures that special ed students get the attention they need while in a normal classroom setting.
The district wants to adopt a policy, drawing from the collaborative model, that would allow special ed and regular ed classes to be combined for certain classes while making sure MCSEC is reimbursed for the extra services.
"It's not a matter of money, but a matter of principle," said board member Doug Weinbrenner.
Under the proposed policy, USD 410 would pay MCSEC $659 per semester. This bill is still tentative.
But funding aside, it's a plan that has the best interests of the children at heart, Mohn said.
"It's what's best for kids," he said.
Mixing special ed and regular ed students together in some classes would encourage those students to perform at a higher level. They'd see what other students are accomplishing, and they'd aim for higher goals, Mohn said.
And mixing classes would also help to erase the stigma that special ed students are somehow different from other students.
One vocal proponent for the integrated classes is Evan Yoder, principal at Hillsboro Middle School. He's seen the cooperative model at work, specifically in reading classes, and it's made a huge difference in what special ed students were able to achieve, he said.
"We saw tremendous growth in those kids," he said. "I'm dumbfounded that they would do anything to stymie that."
Board member Brent Barkman agreed with the proposal, as did the majority of the board.
"What we're doing here is exactly what the kids need," Barkman said.
The board voted unanimously to adopt the policy.
The board also voted to accept the newly revised science standard and curriculum, which were developed by a committee headed by science teacher Scott O'Hare.
O'Hare presented the document to the school board at January's meeting, and it was then available for public comment until Monday's meeting. The district received no public comments.
Some board members wondered if the issue of evolution was addressed in the document.
Board member Brenda Enns said that the document doesn't specifically use the word evolution, but it does deal with "patterns of change."
"I don't think it's a big part of our curriculum," said Dale Honeck, principal of Hillsboro High School.
The document doesn't specifically address how teachers will teach evolution, Gordon Mohn said. The standards are fairly general.
After the board voted to accept the standards, several members asked if the board could hear a presentation by some of the district's science teachers, to see how they teach evolution.
Mohn approved the presentations, but stressed that the teachers would be there to demonstrate how they deal with evolution in the classroom. It wouldn't be about their personal views on evolution, he said.
In other school board business:
— HHS social studies teacher Jim Robb submitted a request to the board that would allow him to miss school in order to join the Prairie View board of directors. Robb asked that the time he spent away from school not be counted against his personal time.
Several board members felt that although serving as a Prairie View board member would be a good example of public service, it might set a bad precedent.
"I think we open ourselves up to similar requests," Weinbrenner said.
However, board member Reg Matz said that similar requests could be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The motion failed 5-2.
— The school district has saved 24 percent in utility bills this year, thanks to a new computerized temperature control system.
— FFA leads all high school organizations in number of students participating, according to Principal Honeck.
This semester, 87 students are members of FFA. The next largest HHS organization is the H-Club, with 53 members. The FCCLA has 30 members, and there are 26 members in the National Honor Society.
