Brandon Twp.- A new elementary and redrawing of district boundaries did not interfere with a smooth start to the school year here.
‘The first day of school went very smooth, there were no problems that I’m aware of,? said Superintendent Lorrie McMahon. ‘There are always a few glitches with the buses, but they were all taken care of. It’s good to have the students and teachers back.?
The inaugural day of school at Oakwood Elementary went as planned, McMahon said. The new 65,000 square-foot school has about 340 students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade and replaces H.T. Burt Elementary, which is the new home to the Sherman Learning Center. School officials reconfigured school boundaries in the spring to accommodate Oakwood, but allowed parents and students to choose to remain with their current schools. Possible drawbacks of the plan were a space issue if one school was preferred over another and the potential for unequal class sizes across the district.
However, those concerns appear to have been mostly laid to rest. McMahon said the first grade at Harvey Swanson Elementary is a ‘little big,? but they are all students who were at the school last year, so it is not an increase.
‘We’re keeping an eye on that,? McMahon said. ‘I don’t know for sure what we would change, it depends. Adding a teacher is possible. Kids don’t like to change (teachers) once class has started. It’s possible we could get additional support in the classroom, such as a parapro.?
Harvey Swanson has already added a kindergarten teacher after an increase of 15 of the youngest students. Last year, the kindergarten class numbered 175. This year, there are 189 kindergarteners.
At Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School, there is one less sixth grade class than last year, after the district lost 25 students at that level.
Overall, the district has seen a decrease of about 100 students, which McMahon attributes to a poor economy and low birth rate. Student count day is Sept. 30 and McMahon stressed the importance of students being in school then, as that particular day determines three-quarters of the amount the district will receive in per-pupil funding. The other quarter is determined with a student count day in February.