Finishing touches being put on '08-09 school needs
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - School administrators discussed staffing needs and special education as the Jackson Board of Education continued a series of meetings focusing on the development of the 2008-09 school year budget.

The budget will be unveiled shortly, and residents will vote on the spending plan in the April school election.

Much of the discussion centered on the enrollments at the town's two high schools, Jackson Liberty and JacksonMemorial.

According to information provided by the school district, the total enrollment at Jackson Liberty is expected to increase from 1,120 students in three grades now to 1,429 students in 2008-09 when the school has four grades for the first time.

The enrollment at Jackson Memorial is expected to decrease from 1,966 students to 1,696 students in 2008-09.

Speaking at the Feb. 19 board meeting, Assistant Superintendent Lu Anne Meinders said the information being provided represents the best estimate at this time for the upcoming school year and is based on rolling over the current enrollment to the next grade level, with no growth included.

Meinders said consideration is given to whether the district can handle any demonstrated needs by transferring staff members from one school to another.

One position being requested for the 2008-09 school year is an additional guidance counselor at Jackson Liberty High School.

"With the enrollment at Jackson Liberty increasing to more than 1,400 students (in September) and the (rising) senior class, there is great need for an additional guidance counselor," Meinders said. "With the addition of this position, (the five) guidance counselors' caseloads will average 286 students. Without the additional counselor, the caseload (for each of four counselors) will soar to 360 students."

She said that would be well above the accepted range of about 250 students for each guidance counselor and also one of the highest student-counselor ratios in any high school in the area.

Meinders noted the caseload at Jackson Memorial High School, where there are presently six guidance counselors (approximately 325 students per counselor).

If one guidance counselor is transferred from JacksonMemorial to Jackson Liberty then a guidance counselor's caseload at Jackson Memorial next year would become about 340 students.

If six guidance counselors are kept at Jackson Memorial, then the caseload for 2008-09 would be about 285 students per counselor, which is more in line with the acceptable load range, she told the board.

Meinders said an additional assistant principal is needed at Jackson Liberty. Where the state average ratio of students to assistant principals is 181 to one, at Jackson Liberty there would be 735 students to one assistant principal if a new assistant principal is not hired. Hiring one more assistant principal for Jackson Liberty would bring the ratio down to 490 students to one assistant principal, she said.

When the 2008-09 school year begins, Jackson Liberty will have students in all four grades for the first time. The current juniors will become the school's first senior class.

According to information provided by the district, the total enrollment at Jackson Liberty will increase from 1,120 students in 2007-08 to 1,429 students in 2008-09.

Because all four grades will be in the school for the first time, additional teaching positions will be required at Jackson Liberty. Meinders said seven teachers may be transferred from Jackson Memorial to Jackson Liberty for the 2008-09 school year.

To cover the new classes at Jackson Liberty, additional teachers will be required for business, English, health and physical education, math, science, social studies and world language. That is in addition to one new assistant principal, one

guidance counselor and one nurse. "That will bring the total number of nurses in the

school to two," Meinders

said.

The estimated total

cost, including salaries

and benefits for these positions,

will be $844,961.

Jackson Memorial is expected

to welcome a freshman

class of about 480 students in

September. The current freshman class has about 415 students. However,

the total enrollment at Jackson Memorial is projected to drop from 1,966 students during the 2007-08 school year to 1,696 students during the 2008-09 school year, according to information provided by the school district.

"We have based our recommendations on careful analysis of courses and enrollment and we are always mindful that we should use existing staff where appropriate," Meinders told the board.

Reporting on the proposed non-certified staffing, Director of Human Resources John Lamela said the budget includes a $4,000 stipend for one grounds dog keeper who handles Rob, a border collie who chases geese off the fields at Jackson Liberty and at other school grounds when necessary.

"This expense is far less than the $7,560 we spent on (geese) last year," Lamela said. "That expense is only for Jackson Liberty."

Noncertified positions also include one groundskeeper, one preventive maintenance worker and one mechanic's helper, a weekend position that will eliminate overtime.

Additionally, other noncertified positions requested will be one bus driver, one paramonitor (hall monitor), three specialeducation paraprofessionals, four receptionists, one security officer, one assistant principal secretary and one lunch duty teacher.

The total cost is estimated at $414,311.

Jeanne Pollock, director of special education, presented the needs of the special education department. Pollock went through the line items, explaining the reasons for each one and discussing how they relate to the needs of special education students.

Included in the list of items were the costs for health services, contracted professional services, administrative and other supplies, instructional supplies, equipment for assistive technology and other programs.

Additionally, there is a request for one teacher in a self-contained special education classroom, one Pre-School Disabled teacher, one speech teacher and three paraprofessionals.

"The increase [also] represents increased fees and the projection of 30 additional special education students in the 2008-09 school year," Pollock said.

There are also mandated booklets for parents that must be copied, fees for organizations, postal fees for records and notices that must be mailed out. There are occupational therapy and physical therapy costs and out-of-district expenses for tutoring and for students in hospitals, treatment facilities and correctional facilities.

"So far this year there have been 20 students in these facilities," Pollock said. "The average cost is $900 per day."

The total proposed cost for the 2008-09 school year for special education would be $2 million, an increase of $90,645 over the 2007-08 budget.