Hiring teachers to reduce class sizes is front-and-center in the superintendent’s 2015-16 budget recommendation for Herricks Union Free School District, as the district looks to partially restore programs slashed during budget cuts from the financial downturn.
Herrick Superintendent John Bierwirth’s budget memo, which represents the administrators’ recommendations to the Board of Education, presents a second-straight positive budget forecast and suggests the district may have turned the page after the elimination of nearly 100 jobs between 2011 and 2014.
The memo recommends the addition of 15 total teaching positions: four elementary school, six middle and high school, two English second language, one special education, and two Gemini positions for the district’s gifted science students.
First and foremost, Bierwirth said, the district hopes to re-implement elementary school class-size caps that it suspended four years ago.
“I would say that that’s right at the top of the list,” he said. “That’s been a priority for the board; it’s been a priority for the community.”
The four elementary teacher positions, which have an estimated $394,480 continuing cost over the next four fiscal years, according to the memo, would allow the district to re-adopt its classroom size guidelines, which it suspended in fiscal year 2011-12.
The caps hold classes to no more than 22 students per kindergarten section, no more than 25 per section for grades 1-3 and no more than 27 per section for grades 4-5.
In January 2014, 29 percent of the district’s 66 elementary school classes exceeded the size caps, ac is front-and-center in the superintendent’s 2015-16 budget recommendation for Herricks Union Free School District, as the district looks to partially restore programs slashed during budget cuts from the financial downturn.
Herrick Superintendent John Bierwirth’s budget memo, which represents the administrators’ recommendations to the Board of Education, presents a second-straight positive budget forecast and suggests the district may have turned the page after the elimination of nearly 100 jobs between 2011 and 2014.
The memo recommends the addition of 15 total teaching positions: four elementary school, six middle and high school, two English second language, one special education, and two Gemini positions for the district’s gifted science students.
First and foremost, Bierwirth said, the district hopes to re-implement elementary school class-size caps that it suspended four years ago.
“I would say that that’s right at the top of the list,” he said. “That’s been a priority for the board; it’s been a priority for the community.”
The four elementary teacher positions, which have an estimated $394,480 continuing cost over the next four fiscal years, according to the memo, would allow the district to re-adopt its classroom size guidelines, which it suspended in fiscal year 2011-12.
The caps hold classes to no more than 22 students per kindergarten section, no more than 25 per section for grades 1-3 and no more than 27 per section for grades 4-5.
In January 2014, 29 percent of the district’s 66 elementary school classes exceeded the size caps, according to figures included in the superintendent’s 2014-15 budget memo.
Following the district’s first strong budget, this year only 11 of 71 elementary classes exceed the cap, a 13.5 percent improvement.
And for the 2015-16 year, Bierwirth said, if the board and voters adopt his recommendations, no elementary classes would exceed the cap.
“Maintaining reasonable class sizes has been a high priority for the District,” the memo states. “Suspending the class size guidelines four years ago was deeply painful. Despite the best efforts of staff, this had a detrimental impact. Restoring the guidelines is the top priority.”
The six additional middle and high school teaching positions, which would be roughly divided equally between the middle school and high school, are also intended to reduce class sizes, according to the memo.
The memo states the additions represent a continuing cost of $591,720.
Top priority would be given to classes in English and Math, the memo says, where students will face stricter graduation standards from the New York State Board of Regents, which most students across the state do not meet.
“The vast majority of Herricks students, however, do meet the standards already,” the memo says. “We want ensure that those vulnerable to not meeting the ‘college and career ready’ standards on the two mandated tests (Algebra and English), roughly 20 percent of our student body, are fully prepared.”
The remaining five teaching positions have a continuing cost of $493,100, according to the memo.
The Board of Education takes the superintendent’s budget memo into account as it formulates a final budget to be voted on in May.
