MITCHELL — The Mitchell School Board will consider potential guidelines for setting class sizes for the first time at its next regular meeting.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Room 10 of the Mitchell Career & Technical Education Academy.
The last time the school board discussed class sizes in the Mitchell School District was at its December meeting. Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Childs said at the meeting that the decision on whether to implement such a cap would ultimately come down to implementing a hard cutoff point for class size or a more flexible soft cap that could be adjusted slightly based on student population. He said there would be a debate about whether to introduce it.
“The debate is whether we want to have strict class caps, so we're talking about maximum number of students in a course or section. What we want to do is stay within reason,” Childs said at the Dec. 11 board meeting.
Mr Childs said there are two ways to address class overcrowding: remove some of the individual's own class offerings or add more teachers to accommodate classes that are particularly overcrowded. Either. Of the two options, Childs said she prefers the soft cap.
Grade sizes in the district have traditionally averaged about 200 students, but junior classes now have more than 300 students.
Guidelines to be presented at the Feb. 26 meeting will “support the decision-making process for adding FTEs across district time and attendance centers,” according to the Feb. 26 meeting agenda. If approved, the guidelines could come into effect from the 2024-25 school year.
The Board of Directors plans to consider the following personnel changes.
- High School Assistant Track Coach Amanda Lynch New Certified Hire, $2,771. Matt Evers, middle school assistant wrestling coach. Stratton Havlik, middle school assistant wrestling coach, $968. Macy Ball, volunteer cross country coach, $1, effective for the 2024-25 school year; Caleb Saylor, volunteer assistant track coach, $1. All hires are effective for his 2023-24 academic year unless otherwise specified.
- PAC/MCTEA parent Michaela Christopher's new confidential hire will be effective January 31st for 8 hours per day at $19 an hour, and Mitchell Middle School paraeducator Stephanie Baldwin will be hired for 7.24 hours at $18.75 an hour. Effective February 5th.
- Chaley Nagel, a middle school and high school special education teacher, has been moved to middle school special education teacher, and Shelby Banger, a special education teacher at LB Williams Elementary School, has been moved to BCBA, a district-wide behavior analyst. Both transfers will be effective starting in the 2024-25 school year.
- Claire Stoller, fourth grade teacher and assistant track coach at LB Williams Elementary School, will resign after the 2023-24 school year. By Jeff Sand, Mitchell High School ELA The 2023-24 school year is effectively over. Trevor Krugman, head football coach in his second year, after the 2023-24 school year, until a suitable replacement is found. Scott Mullenmeister, Director of Women's Soccer, beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Gracie Kuttner, special education teacher at Mitchell Middle School, effective at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Rayanne Larson, his 7th grade and his 8th grade math teacher at Mitchell Middle School, effective at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Trena Porter, Gertie Bell Rogers Elementary School Lunch Service, effective February 23rd. Jenna Miller, assistant debate coach, effectively ends the 2023-24 school year until a suitable replacement is found. Jeremy Heard, Mitchell Middle School Assistant Principal, effective June 30th. Doris Cordero, paraeducator at LB Williams Elementary School, effective February 20th. Sadie Krumm, 5th grade teacher at LB Williams Elementary School The 2023-24 school year has effectively ended. Ms. Carla Levins, her 2nd grade teacher at LB Williams Elementary School, valid for the 2023-24 school year, and Gertie Bell, her 0.5 FTE third grade teacher at Rogers Elementary School, Ms. Ashley Sands, valid for the 2023-24 school year. end.
- New Mitchell Technical College will hire Welding and Manufacturing Technology student worker Michael Gerbing, $15 an hour, effective Jan. 8, and Mariah Ulmer, Student Success Center student worker, $15 an hour, effective Jan. 8. Hiring effective 4th.
- Maintenance technician Jimmy Nicklaus will retire on June 30th.
Also at this meeting, the board is expected to:
- Please consider declaring Mitchell Institute of Technology Residence Hall #110 as surplus property.
- Consider declaring your Bobcat L28 loader and attachments as surplus.
- Consider purchasing the Bobcat UW56 Utility Loader.
- Consider declaring your Ford F350 Super Duty truck as surplus.
- We will consider accepting the audit report for 2022-23.
- Please consider accepting membership in the Eastern South Dakota Food Purchasing Group.
- Consider approving the 2024-2025 K-12 school calendar.
- Hear reports from board members.
- Listen to the supervisor's report.
- Listen to public comments.
- We recognize the state champion gymnastics team.
The meeting will be held in public. Mitchell Republic will livestream the meeting on its website.
Eric Kaufman joined The Mitchell Republic in July 2019 as an education and features reporter. He grew up in Freeman, South Dakota and graduated from Freeman High School. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1999 with a major in English and a minor in Computer Science. Contact him at ekaufman@mitchellrepublic.com.