MITCHELL — When the 2024-25 school year begins this fall, there will be some new guidelines for class sizes in the Mitchell School District.
The Mitchell Board of Education has developed a series of guidelines that provide a roadmap for planning student and class schedules to ensure that class sizes do not exceed the ability of teachers and other school staff to effectively handle their classes. Guidelines have been adopted.
“I think this is a great starting point,” Mitchell School Board member Terry Aslesen said before the 5-0 vote to accept the guidelines.
The guidelines, which were submitted to the board by an advisory committee and district management team and are expected to go into effect starting in the 2024-25 school year, set recommended class sizes at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. Recommended class sizes vary, from smaller for younger classes and classes that require more one-on-one interaction to larger for older students and classes such as vocal and instrumental music.
For some classes, a recommended size is provided with additional suggestions, such as that you can add up to two students per class, and in most cases, the size of your lab will determine the size of your class.
Exceeding guidelines will be reported to administrative centers within the district and to the school board itself. Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Childs said the guidelines have not been discussed by the board in at least 20 years and will be reviewed annually.
Childs said the class size target numbers are more of a recommendation than a hard or soft cap, which was discussed at the December board meeting. The numbers approved Monday night are likely to change as the advisory board, administrators and district teachers continue to provide input from year to year.
Eric Kaufman / Mitchell Republic
This recommendation allows district leaders to balance between maintaining reasonable class sizes, hiring additional full-time equivalents as needed, and having teachers assume sixth teaching duties when possible. You will be able to find. It is also important to ensure that teachers are supported in the classroom and that discussions about how to improve classroom conditions take place.
“We have been discussing this with administrators and teachers, and we are making recommendations to guide decisions to increase FTE when and where we need it, rather than ending up with classes that are flat at the seams. I wanted to come up with some things. We have too many students,” Childs said.
Daniel Erdman, a science teacher at Mitchell High School, assembled his own recommendations for the district's classroom sizes and addressed the board at the meeting. Some of the numbers she brought to the meeting indicated that the class size approved Monday night may have been too large.
“Almost every (class) is different. In science we have 24 and we're listed at 28. That can make a big difference,” Erdmann said. “When it comes to high schools, almost all of them are at a higher standard than[the teachers I surveyed]would like.”
Aslesen said he agreed with Erdmann's concerns, but noted that the recommended size is primarily lower than the particularly large classes currently being held. He also said mandatory annual reviews of recommendations should allow the board to adjust these numbers more efficiently.
“The recommendations are much lower than a lot of the abnormalities that are happening in schools right now, so it's pretty close to where teachers want to be,” Aslesen said.
Eric Kaufman / Mitchell Republic
Brittni Flood, another board member, said the new recommendations provide better guidance for administrators and teachers who must deal with larger class sizes if necessary. said that more support needs to be provided.
Flood said feedback will be important in this process.
“It holds everyone accountable. It wasn't a conversation at all before. It holds us accountable, it holds the administration accountable, it holds the teachers accountable,” Flood said. “Every insight helps us. I think this is a step in the right direction. No solution is perfect from the beginning, but we can strive every year to improve.”
School Board Chair Deb Olson said she agreed to accept the numbers provided by Childs and then revisit the issue annually. She said this will allow for more collaboration with the district's teachers and administrators.
“These are guidelines. It's not going to be hard or fast, so I'm going to come back next year,” Olson said. “I support leaving it as something that (the advisory committee) worked together to come up with. Then let's see how it works and come back next year.” If for some reason we If it deviates significantly from that, significant changes will have to be made next year. ”
Erdman and Amanda Sonne, another teacher in the district who spoke at the board meeting, were cautiously optimistic about the discussion and appreciate the attention the topic is receiving at the school board level. He said he hoped the discussion would continue.
“I think it was a productive conversation. I think bringing these issues into open discussion between faculty and the board is a really positive thing,” Sonne told the Mitchell Republic after the meeting. told.
The guidelines only hope to improve the student experience while providing critical support to the district's teachers, Childs said.
“The benefits of this mean that class sizes are more reasonable. It means that students receive more direct instruction and the potential for more attention, and it means that students have the potential to receive more direct instruction and more attention. It means the workload will be more reasonable (for teachers),” Childs said.
The Board of Directors also made the following personnel changes at the meeting:
- High School Assistant Track Coach Amanda Lynch New Certified Hire, $2,771. Matt Evers, middle school assistant wrestling coach. Stratton Havlik, middle school assistant wrestling coach, $968. Macy Ball, volunteer cross country coach, $1, effective for the 2024-25 school year; Caleb Saylor, volunteer assistant track coach, $1. All hires are effective for his 2023-24 academic year unless otherwise specified.
- PAC/MCTEA parent Michaela Christopher's new confidential hire will be effective January 31st for 8 hours per day at $19 an hour, and Mitchell Middle School paraeducator Stephanie Baldwin will be hired for 7.24 hours at $18.75 an hour. Effective February 5th.
- Chaley Nagel, a middle school and high school special education teacher, has been moved to middle school special education teacher, and Shelby Banger, a special education teacher at LB Williams Elementary School, has been moved to BCBA, a district-wide behavior analyst. Both transfers will be effective starting in the 2024-25 school year.
- Claire Stoller, fourth grade teacher and assistant track coach at LB Williams Elementary School, will resign after the 2023-24 school year. By Jeff Sand, Mitchell High School ELA The 2023-24 school year is effectively over. Trevor Krugman, head football coach in his second year, after the 2023-24 school year, until a suitable replacement is found. Scott Mullenmeister, Director of Women's Soccer, beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Gracie Kuttner, special education teacher at Mitchell Middle School, effective at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Rayanne Larson, his seventh-grade and his eighth-grade math teacher at Mitchell Middle School, effective at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Trena Porter, Gertie Bell Rogers Elementary School Lunch Service, effective February 23rd. Jenna Miller, assistant debate coach, effectively ends the 2023-24 school year until a suitable replacement is found. Jeremy Heard, Mitchell Middle School Assistant Principal, effective June 30th. Doris Cordero, paraeducator at LB Williams Elementary School, effective February 20th. Sadie Klum, 5th grade teacher at LB Williams Elementary School The 2023-24 school year has effectively ended. Ms. Carla Levins, her 2nd grade teacher at LB Williams Elementary School, valid for the 2023-24 school year, and Gertie Bell, her 0.5 FTE third grade teacher at Rogers Elementary School, Ms. Ashley Sands, valid for the 2023-24 school year. end.
- New Mitchell Technical College will hire Welding and Manufacturing Technology student worker Michael Gerbing, $15 an hour, effective Jan. 8, and Mariah Ulmer, Student Success Center student worker, $15 an hour, effective Jan. 8. Hiring effective 4 days.
- Maintenance technician Jimmy Nicklaus will retire on June 30th.
Also at the meeting, the board stated:
- Declared Mitchell Institute of Technology student dormitory No. 110 as surplus property.
- I declared my Bobcat L28 loader and accessories as surplus.
- Genuine Bobcat UW56 Utility Loader Purchase.
- I declared my Ford F350 Super Duty truck as surplus.
- The audit report for fiscal year 2022-2023 has been accepted.
- Approved as a member of the Eastern South Dakota Food Purchasing Group.
- Approved the 2024-2025 K-12 school calendar.
- I heard the director's report.
- I heard the chief's report.
- Honoring the state champion gymnastics team.
The next Mitchell School Board meeting is scheduled for March 11th.
Eric Kaufman joined The Mitchell Republic in July 2019 as an education and features reporter. He grew up in Freeman, South Dakota and graduated from Freeman High School. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1999 with a major in English and a minor in Computer Science. Contact him at ekaufman@mitchellrepublic.com.
