Ankeny Board Needs to Decide Whether to Spend $3.1 Million on Teachers

Ankeny school board members need to decide soon if they are willing to spend extra money to hire more teachers in an effort to relieve overcrowding in district elementary schools.

Associate Superintendent Bruce Kimpston presented the Ankeny school board with a plan for secondary staffing Monday night. Combined with Kimpston’s plan for elementary staffing he presented earlier this month, the board is being asked to consider close to $3.1 million in staffing needs.

Included in the plan are two scenarios for staffing at the elementary level, one of which will require the district spending up to $700,000 more to get elementary class size below 27 students.

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Following Kimpston’s presentation Monday, Ankeny District Superintendent Matthew Wendt urged board members to give district staff an idea on how to proceed by the board’s next meeting so they begin hiring new staff.

“You need to be aware that don’t have the time or the luxury to wait until July to make this determination,” Wendt said. “We hire in the spring and we need to move forward to open (Prairie Trail Elementary).”

Enrollment in the continues to grow at a rapid rate. In November, the latest district enrollment figures showed there are 8,879 students in the district. The number of students will continue to increase, reaching almost 11,000 students by the 2016-17 school year. 

A bulk of the secondary staffing plan presented by Kimpston called for $1.28 million in additional staff members, including 12.25 full-time staff members, three support staff members, 15 coaches and two technology staff members.

At the board’s Feb. 6 meeting, members were presented with elementary staffing needs. Kimpston said at this meeting much of the district's growth is happening at the elementary school level. Close to 4,800 elementary students are projected to enroll in the district next year.

Two Options for Staffing and Class Sizes

During Monday night’s meeting, Kimpston reviewed his recommendations for staffing at the elementary level for the 2012-13 school year. His plan includes two scenarios.

The first runs in line with current board policy, which allows up to 29 students in one elementary classroom. Should board members stick with current policy, Kimpston recommended hiring a total of 15 new teachers at a cost of $1.2 million.

The other scenario gave board members an idea of how many staff members would be needed to reduce class size below 27 students. In this instance, Kimpston said 24 teachers would be needed at a cost of almost $1.9 million.

Hiring 24 new teachers, Kimpston said at the Feb. 6 meeting, will result in an average of 20 to 24 students per classroom with no more than 25 students in a kindergarten classroom or 27 in first- through fifth-grade rooms.

Funding for the additional positions should the board opt for the $1.9 million plan will not affect the district’s property tax rate, said Craig Hansel, the district’s chief financial officer. The positions will instead be paid for through revenue generated by increased enrollment and allowable growth.

The district also has close to $8 million set aside in its cash reserves to address secondary staffing options prior to the opening of Ankeny Centennial High School in 2013, Wendt said, adding the board could tap into that money, as well.