- By Dan Veaner
- News
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Lansing Board Of Education members approved the second reading of a policy that affirms past policy on class size. The policy obligates Superintendent Stephen Grimm to consider adding sections to classes that exceed suggested caps, though it does not require him to actually add sections.
"Optimal class size is defined as not exceeding the high teens in the elementary school and the low 20s in the upper grades," the policy reads. "Upon request of the faculty and administration or whenever class size exceeds 18 in grades K-4 and 25 in the upper grades, the Superintendent may consider options to reduce the student to teacher ratio."
The policy is becoming more controversial in the light of continuing budget cuts due to reductions in state and federal aid, reduced income because of the renegotiated AES Cayuga power plant PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement, and a generally poor economy. At the last board meeting Grimm and others noted that the policy could change quickly in the face of reduced revenues. This week Grimm presented enrollment figures to the board, showing the justification for the number of teachers in the district this school year.
It ain't over 'till it's over, but school officials have to work with enrollment projections so they know how many teachers and support staff they need to hire. This week Lansing Superintendent Stephen Grimm presented a summary of enrollment to the Board Of Education that was up to date, though not necessarily the exact final numbers.
Total enrollment in the Lansing schools is 1167, down by 17 students this year. That is because enrollment in the elementary school is down by 21. All grades in the elementary school are down except for Grade 3, which is up by 19 students. Strangely, the biggest drop is 29 students in 4th grade. Kindergarten is down by 4, first grade by 5, second by two. The middle school, at 369 students, is up by 3 students overall, and the high school is up by one for a total of 396 this year. High School Principal Eric Hartz noted a rise in high school enrollment, pointing out that while last year's eighth grade had 96 students, this year's ninth grade has 110. He said ten ninth graders were enrolled just in the past week.
"That's a good sign that enrollment is going up," Grimm said. "People understand that this is a great place to raise a family and go to school."
Grimm says that the 1167 enrolled as of Monday do not include children who attend BOCES full time (around 17), preschool (around 40), home schooled children (about 40) or charter school children (around 10) who live in Lansing. Adding those children brings the total to more than 1,200, Grimm said.
Births in Tompkins County have averaged 884.9 over the past 11 years. Last year there were 889 births, up by only 3 from the previous two years. In 2003, 2004, and 2007 there were spikes. 994 were born in 2007.
School administrators use several methods for projecting enrollment over the next five years. One suggests that enrollment will be fairly steady with a drop of 17 students in 2012-2013 followed by a slow rise that will bring enrollment up to 1216 in 2015-2016, ten fewer than this year's projected enrollment. Another projection predicts 1258 students this year and a rise to 1320 in 2015-2016. A third method projects a 22 student rise with 1241 this year and 1263 five years from now.
Administrators also project the number of teachers that will be needed through the 2020-2021 school year based on about a half dozen scenarios with class sizes ranging from a 1:22 teacher/student ratio to a 1:32 ratio. In most cases those projections predict fewer teachers will be needed. While that is to be expected in larger classes, the 1:22 projection shows more teachers over a ten year period in grades 6, 8, 10, and 11, but fewer in grades 5, 7, 9, and 12.
That keeps class size generally within the policy caps. Grades K-4 all fall below 18 students per teacher except for second grade, which averages 18.4. Middle and high school class sizes all come out around 20 or fewer. Honors enrollment is up, and Hartz says that some class sizes are a bit smaller to accomodate the schedules of students who want honors classes.
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