School district may cut teachers for 2009-10 school year
|
Superintendent Greenhall cites declining enrollment as the reason
Warwick — With a 7.5 percent decrease in enrollment projected over the next five years, the Warwick Valley School District plans to cut at least five teachers next year, with the possibility of up to three more.
That comes a year after the district cut four teachers for the start of this current school year.
“It’s all because of demographics,” Warwick’s schools superintendent Dr. Frank Greenhall said during Monday’s School Board meeting.
Greenhall pointed to a chart showing single-family building permits issued by municipalities throughout Orange County. The Town of Warwick issued just 42 building permits for single-family homes in all of 2007, the lowest since 1992.
Just seven years earlier in 2000, 155 permits were issued. In the Village of Warwick, 32 single-family building permits were issued in 2007, not a very low number compared with previous numbers. Just 51 permits were issued in the village for the five years between 2000 and 2004. In the Town of Chester, 33 single-family permits were issued in 2007, the lowest since 1992. The Sugar Loaf area of Chester is in the Warwick school district.
There will be some shuffling. Currently there are three kindergarten sections, two first grade classes and four second grades at Kings. One teacher will be moved to the first grade to accommodate the incoming classes, while two will be cut from second grade since only two classes will be coming through next year. With three third grade classes this year and four fourth grade teachers, one of those sections will go, for a net loss of two teachers.
|
Currently there are two sections of first and second grade PIE—Partners In Education—at Kings. Those possibly will be merged into one section, depending on the numbers.
At Park Avenue, one second grade section will be cut from the current four. In addition, the Skills 1 class could go since only 7 students are in the program.
At Sanfordville, one first grade section is scheduled to be eliminated, while the potential for one second grade reduction has also been mentioned.
Pine Island will add a section to first grade and cut one second grade, with no net change.
The elementary enrollment, which includes kindergarten through fifth grade, is currently 1,723. This age group has the lowest projection of loss with a 2.1 percent decrease, down to 1,687 in 2013-14.
|
|
At the middle school, where enrollment is projected to drop by 17 students, one sixth grade section is planned to be eliminated.
Two years ago, enrollment at the middle school was at 1,091. Now, the middle school population is 1,040. Steady declines are expected for the next five years when it is estimated that the number of middle school students in Warwick will number just 879, a drop of 15.5 percent, the largest drop in the district.
High school enrollment is expected to drop 8.2 percent over the next five years, from 1,605 to 1,474.
The loss of the nine teachers over the two years will save the district up to $839,000, according to John Niedzielski, associate superintendent for administration and personnel.
|
Post a comment about this story. Be sure to include your name and email to submit a comment. Please note that email addresses are for internal use only and will not be displayed or shared. You can find a copy of our privacy policy in the terms of service link below.
I agree that I have read the Terms of Service and agree to abide by them.
Terms of Service
|
|
