SA ponders staffing levels for 2014-15
South Adams Superintendent of Schools Scott Litwiller directed the school board through a discussion of staffing for the 2014-15 school year during this week’s monthly meeting. He said staffing numbers are based on enrollment rates, student needs and declining general fund revenues.
At the elementary level, one or two positions could be eliminated, he said. Options include five teachers for 87 third-graders for a 17.4 student-to-teacher ratio, or four teachers at a 21.8 student-to-teacher ratio. Four fourth-grade teachers for 99 students would create a 24.8 student-to-teacher ratio, and four fifth-grade teachers for 96 student creates a 24-to-one ratio.
No reductions are possible in the middle school, Litwiller said, as four core academic teachers are required in each grade, while the Family and Consumer Science program could be cut. The class is an elective and not a graduation requirement, students have other related options available to them and teacher Deb Hosier is retiring, he added.
Litwiller explained that if it is necessary to enact a Reduction of Force, school board policy will be followed and reductions would be based on an evaluation before seniority.