Schools
BOE Puts Final Approval On Proposed Teaching Positions
Teaching positions presented to public during budget discussion get approved 6-1.
The Board of Education (BOE) put the final approval on the 2010-2011 budget at their meeting on June 2, choosing to keep the three positions that were presented to voters and refrain from making any adjustments or reallocating the funding. The approved budget will bring smaller class sizes to Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES) with a second grade teacher, a fifth grade guidance counselor Whisconier Middle School (WMS) and a literacy teacher to Brookfield High School (BHS).
The proposed teaching positions originally came under scrutiny at the BOE meeting on May 19 when board members Rob Giannazza and Harry Shaker requested the board discuss further how the money could be best utilized within the district.
Three Brookfield residents addressed the board, stating that they felt it was wrong to make a major change to what was consistently and repeatedly presented to the public since late December of 2009.
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Board Chair Mike Fenton took responsibility for the situation, saying that it was an internal issue. "The process was not handled as well as it should have been," he stated, adding that he should have clarified the situation earlier. "I should have asked the board if that is the direction we want to go," Fenton said. "I did not do that. I have learned from that mistake."
The BOE voted 6-1, in favor of the budget as presented, with Vice Chair Rob Giannazza voting against it. Giannazza stated that he thinks that reducing class size at HHES should be the priority and by adding two additional teachers there, class sizes would be well within the target for the district. In order to do that, the guidance counselor for WMS and the literacy teacher at BHS would have to wait.
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Class sizes at HHES, which range as high as 27 students, will be reduced in the 2010-2011 school year by the addition of one new teacher and by transferring a WMS teacher to HHES. This will bring the class sizes slightly above the district target of 21 students per teacher, averaging 23 to 24.
At the closing of the meeting, Fenton thanked "everyone who did take the time to come and speak and email the board expressing their concerns and questions."
