CV enrollment higher than expected
District adding teachers to cope with extra students
More students than expected are showing up at Central Valley schools, prompting the district to hire several teachers.
Early enrollment numbers show the number of students as 12,051 on Monday, compared to the school district’s conservative estimate of flat enrollment at 11,640 for the 2008-’09 school year. Last year’s enrollment average was 11,648.
“More than half our schools are seeing enrollment higher than they expected,” said district spokeswoman Melanie Rose. First, second and seventh grades are particularly tight. “There’s very little space left, if you look districtwide. Right now we’re up about 70 students over last year.”
On the first day of school the district had 100 “overflow” students, kids who had to be bused to different schools because their home school was overcrowded. That number has dropped somewhat, but Greenacres Middle School is still sending 44 students to North Pines Middle School.
The Kindergarten Center had so many extra students on the first day of school that a new afternoon kindergarten class was added.
The early numbers are considered soft, but the district is confident that enrollment will be up overall, Rose said. The high school enrollment, listed as 3,497, will be reduced to account for running start and skill center students. “It takes a couple of days for the high schools to do that,” Rose said.
The district added 3.5 full-time equivalent teachers. At North Pines Middle School the district added a language arts teacher and a halftime math teacher and a half-time health and fitness teacher were made full time. A half-time kindergarten teacher was made full time at the Kindergarten Center and a first/second grade combination class was added at Greenacres Elementary.
The added teachers are within the district’s staffing formula, Rose said. “We believe our additional enrollment will fund us for our teachers.”