Staffing Increases/Decreases

I hear that Eckstein had to lose a .5 FTE.  I find it hard to believe they lost enrollment but maybe they overstaffed believing it would be higher?  Anyone?

And then there was this in another thread:
"I just got my robo-call from Hale high school saying that they've been given 3 new staff based on student enrollment. Chemistry, Algebra II, and a 10th grade "core" teacher. Some students will see a schedule change, but classes will be smaller."

That's worth looking into.  I'd love to know if Hale got filled following their new rebuild because 3 new staff is quite a lot so good for them if they did.  

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ingraham is up 1.2 FTE, though it's not enough in my opinion.

DWE
wondering said…
Is there a place to see what schools gained and lost fte?
Josh Hayes said…
I'm with DWE on this: my son has two classes (French and Lit) with only about 20 kids in them. Two others are in the mid-30s or so, and the remaining two are well over 40. Is this how high school is supposed to be? 45 kids in a language arts class?
NLM said…
Lawton was projected to have 459 students last spring but ended up with 443, primarily due to losses at the 4th/5th grade level. The school will lose an assistant principal and .5 FTE if current numbers hold. It already lost a classroom teacher (reassigned to school with higher enrollment.
Anonymous said…
McClure lost a teacher the week before school started and all classes are now above 35. Whole classes of kids were shifted this week, because some grade level teachers had 180 students. Lower grades have fewer students, so they were shifted to upper grade teachers. Eg, 7th graders are now going to the 8th grade science teacher because there were slightly fewer 7th graders. Now teachers are at about 167. Great. How can it be cost effective to pay overages to all teachers instead of just hiring a staff to fill in?

-McClure parent
none1111 said…
Lawton was projected to have 459 students last spring but ended up with 443, primarily due to losses at the 4th/5th grade level.

Losses at 4th/5th grade? Well, I guess that's to be expected when you kill your Spectrum program. I'll bet a chunk of those losses were APP-qualified kids that jumped ship. Perfectly happy to go to school in their own neighborhood until the rug got pulled out from under them. Wonder how the principal is liking it now that the ass't may be gone.

Speaking of kids having the rug pulled out from under them, how are the numbers at Wedgwood?
anonymous said…
It is so disruptive to students to have their schedules change, divide classes, a month into the school year. Once again policy trumps what is best for students.

Teachers should be hired (or let go) and classes should be planned prior to school starting- except in extreme circumstances classes and staffing should not be manipulated once school is in session.

d.i.s.r.u.p.t.i.v.e.
Unknown, 40+ is just crazy town. You should notify the Board and get that on their radar.
Anonymous said…
What about 35+ for everything, at McClure Middle. How can it be fixed?

-McClure parent
I do like the idea of getting the accounting for teacher payments for larger than legal class sizes. It would be interesting to see if the district is really saving money versus paying a number of teachers in any given school more because of the class size.
Anonymous said…
McClure Parent,

Start with Michael DeBell this Saturday at his open meeting- bring a lot of McClure parents to show you all mean business... discuss the impact it is having on learning for current students and the willingness of incoming 5th grade parents to sign up for next year.

just a suggestion...

QAE Parent
Josh Hayes said…
That's irritating; Google seems to have forgotten who I am. I'm the "unknown" guy back there. Thanks for the suggestion, Melissa. I'll let the Board in on this, but I suspect it's similar across the district, not just at Ingraham.
Anonymous said…
Heard several schools were impacted by a"hiring freeze". Wonder if part of bridging the $$ gap is intentionally keeping subs and oversized classes to only pay 90% or so of some annual salaries when October head counts roll around. Supposedly the oversized class bonus payments don't start until Oct and so no liabilities yet.

Even if intentional to save some $$ by waiting until Oct 1 headcounts - considering the budgets is this OK?

--MIT
Laura said…
In the Spring, Lowell was projected to have 700+ students, but the @Lincoln group is "425+" and the @Capitol Hill group is "around 200", per a newsletter and a PTA meeting. 425 + 200 = 625. Where did they all go?

Don't know about staffing changes, except that there was to be a second principal, Marella Francios, who is MIA.
dan dempsey said…
Staffing Decrease .... how about at the JSCEE?
Maureen said…
Teachers should be hired (or let go) and classes should be planned prior to school starting- except in extreme circumstances classes and staffing should not be manipulated once school is in session.

d.i.s.r.u.p.t.i.v.e.
, this is no longer possible. Under the NSAP any number of kids can walk in the door any day of the year and are guaranteed a seat. Unpredictability--one more side effect of giving people what they wanted (i.e., predicatability.) Now, we can hope that SPS isn't using this fact as cover for understaffing, but we have no way to call them on it.
Anonymous said…
Another question. McClure has gone to "double LA". Meaning, students are all scheduled for 1 period of "LA", and another period of "reading". Back to back. The students sit in the same room, with the same teacher, for 2 periods. Do they count as 2 for the towards the caseload maximum? Or, more likely of course, the school is only counting them as 1. That should cut down on about 38 butts, for the purposes of paying teachers. Does anybody know the rules on this?

McCLure parent
still wondering said…
Is there a list that shows which schools will lose and gain staffing?
anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
anonymous said…
"d.i.s.r.u.p.t.i.v.e. this is no longer possible. Under the NSAP any number of kids can walk in the door any day of the year and are guaranteed a seat."

Really Maureen? I'd say the district should err on the side of caution and over staff. That is what is best for students, and students are what this district serves.

Further, families apply for schools in MARCH. By September, which is 6 months after open enrollment the district should be able to figure out how many students to expect on the first day of school. Sure, a handful more may show up at the last minute, but a the district should use an average to calculate those numbers- just like they do when they over enroll classes knowing that they will have x percent of no shows on the first day of school.

Neighborhood schools are nothing new. No need for SPS to reinvent the wheel. US school districts have used the neighborhood school model since I was a kid in the 70s. We should have it right by now, or at least find a viable model to replicate.

No more excuses.

just sayin'
Anonymous said…
Roosevelt is at about 1650 this year & adding staff in LA & maybe science.

=Heard at PTSA meeting
Anonymous said…
Just learned at curriculum night that due to the hiring freeze Ballard High was unable to replace a math teacher who resigned suddenly near the end of the summer. They had to bring in a sub instead of hiring a long-term teacher. This seems beyond stupid. Sure, don't expand the staff if there is a freeze, but replacing staff one-for-one should not be a problem.

The sub seemed like a fine teacher, but obviously not as invested in the class as someone planning to be there all year. And she can't stay on much longer for personal reasons, so the class may need to have a second sub before a permanent teacher is in place.

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