An unexpected influx of kindergartners coupled with a grim economic forecast led Oxford Community Schools to do a classroom shuffle at Leonard Elementary rather than hire a new teacher for Daniel Axford Elementary.
‘We felt we should not take on another new teacher (and) create a recurring cost knowing that we’re looking at big (revenue) reductions (from the state) next year,? said Superintendent Dr. William Skilling. (See sidebar story below.)
A second-grade teacher from Leonard was transferred to Daniel Axford (DA) Monday, so one of the other second-grade instructors at the Mechanic St. school could teach a newly-created section of kindergartners there.
‘We have so many new kindergartners that came in on the first day of school that we ran out of room and so we have to create a new section at DA,? Skilling explained. ‘On the first day of school, six new kindergarten students showed up. We had no idea they were coming. These are move-ins.?
DA had four sections with 29 kindergartners each and two sections of 28 students.
‘We go over 27, we’re going to do something with our kindergartners,? Skilling said.
The addition of a teacher to DA will allow the school to have seven sections of kindergartners, each with 25 students (three more registered as this was being written).
The district was able to subtract a teacher from Leonard because of the school’s small class sizes in grades 1-3.
‘We had some really small classes at Leonard,? Skilling said. ‘All those classes are the lowest-numbered classes in the entire district. There’s no other classes in the district that are that small in size.?
For example, Leonard’s two first grade sections and two third grade sections all have 16 students each in them.
‘Our target number is 25 for those grade levels,? Skilling noted.
To offset the missing teacher at Leonard, the school will go from six to five sections of first through third-graders.
The new makeup will consist of two split sections, a first/second grade and second/third grade, each with 20 students.
Leonard will also have one section each of traditional first, second and third grade classes, each with 23 students.
‘There classes are so small that even after we do the splits, they still have the smallest class sizes in our district,? Skilling noted.
Simply hiring a new teacher for DA was not an option, according to the superintendent.
‘The easiest thing would be just to spend $65,000 more (the cost of employing a new teacher), but when you know you’ve got this financial hurricane that’s going to hit next year, that wouldn’t have been good stewardship,? he explained.
Finances aside, Skilling knows the teacher changes at Leonard and DA aren’t easy.
‘When you have to make a change a couple days into the school year, that’s disruptive,? he said. ‘It’s more (so) for the parents than it is the kids.?
But it’s better to make such changes now versus waiting a few weeks. ‘We wanted to do it as soon as we could,? he said.
Speaking as superintendent, Skilling doesn’t believe blending two grades into one class has any adverse affects. He noted Lakeville and Clear Lake already have split classes.
Speaking as the parent of six children, all of which were in split classes at some point, Skilling advocates such blends.
‘Whenever I had the option to have my own children in a split, I always chose the split,? he said, noting two of his kids were in splits two years in a row by his choice. ‘I felt my kids had a tremendous advantage by being involved in splits.?
Skilling said blended classes are good because younger students get their lessons plus those of older kids, while older students get a review when they hear the younger kids? lessons.
Blending two grades also ‘creates more opportunities for peer tutoring.?
‘The highest level of learning occurs with peer tutoring,? Skilling said. ‘Teaching something represents the highest or deepest level of knowledge, of understanding.?
Besides, Skilling indicated what really matters is the teacher, not whether the class is a split or all one grade level.
‘The most important factor in the quality of education is still the teacher,? he said. ‘The structure is not as significant as the teacher in the classroom.?