Carmichaels school board votes against hiring kindergarten teacher
CARMICHAELS – Despite some concerns about class sizes, the Carmichaels Area School District board voted 4-3 against hiring an additional kindergarten teacher. Debbie Morani of Carmichaels told the board at its monthly meeting Thursday that with her son about to enter kindergarten, she thinks the classes are too large for proper instruction. While she stressed she has confidence in the teachers already instructing the four classes, she said the number of children is higher per teacher than last year.
“I just want to make sure my son is prepared and knows how to read and goes to first grade without a problem,” Morani said.
Elementary school principal Craig Baily said the current enrollment is 85, with one class with 22 students and the other three with 21. He added that last year each class had 18 students.
“We had great results with the low class sizes last year,” Baily said.
District Superintendent James Zalar told the board that while enrollment is high now, the actual enrollment will not be evident until a few weeks into the new school year when the figures settle.
After an executive session to discuss personnel matters, director Robert Hathaway made a motion to hire another kindergarten teacher for the district. Zalar said another teacher could be accommodated in a computer lab at the elementary school and that smaller class size could help, “bring students up to their potential.” Zalar added that the district would not have the teacher by the beginning of classes for the new year.
Board President Ken Ganocy and director J.L. Lechner said the decision was too hasty and an overreaction.
After the vote, Ganocy said the board will review the situation for its next meeting.
The board also heard from Zalar about the 8th grade class’s inclusion on the No Child Left Behind Act warning list after state standards were not met on last year’s assessment tests.
Zalar said that portions of the assessment are being appealed by the district and a ruling is expected by Sept. 9. However, he did acknowledge that there was some improvement needed in mathematics. He said that administrators and teachers would be reviewing the math curriculum and working to align teaching practices more closely with the state standards.
The board also hired Jared Rastoka as the high school physics teacher for the upcoming school year and Angela Everly as the varsity girl’s head volley ball coach.