Ankeny School Board Considers Hiring 24 New Elementary Teachers

The Ankeny school board is being asked to consider hiring 24 additional teachers to staff its newest elementary school and help relieve overcrowding in others.

At the board’s regular meeting Monday night, members were told by Associate Superintendent Bruce Kimpston that hiring the additional teachers will help complete staffing at Prairie Trail Elementary School, scheduled to open in August 2012, as well as relieve some of the pressure on other classrooms that are at or nearing capacity.

“Today, we have classrooms with 28 and 29 students in them,” Kimpston told board members during the meeting. “Hiring 24 teachers will take us down to a maximum of 27 per classroom.”

Enrollment in the continues to grow at a rapid rate. In November, the board was presented with the latest district enrollment figures, which show 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.

At Monday's meeting, Kimpston said 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.

The need for many of these 24 positions stems from the opening of Prairie Trail, the district’s ninth elementary school. Others are needed to fill the positions of more experienced teachers who will be moved to Prairie Trail once it opens.

The 24 teaching positions are included within Kimpston’s district-wide staffing plan calling for 42 positions needing to be filled for the 2012-13 school year, which includes physical education, vocal and instrumental music, as well as a school nurse.

The cost to fulfill these staffing needs, Kimpston said, is just over $3 million. This figure includes staff benefits.

More teachers are necessary because some classrooms in the district have reached 29 students, the maximum amount of students allowed in a class per school board policy.

Hiring 24 new teachers, Kimpston said, 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.

How much class size will be affected by the possible hiring will depend largely on the school, Kimpston said. 

“The capacity at each school is different,” he said.  “What may be true at or elementary schools may look different at .”

Kimpston will present his staffing recommendations for the middle and high school levels at the board’s next meeting on Feb. 20.