Valley High Staffing Levels Too Low for Electives? ‘Where will these students go?’

Teachers at Valley High School are worried fluctuations in staffing levels could mean there will not be enough teachers next year, forcing more students into study halls than into enriched learning opportunities from elective courses.

That raised “grave concerns about students that are asked to not take courses and instead go into study halls” with at least one West Des Moines Community Schools Board of Education member, Andi Lipman, the Des Moines Register reported.

Valley High School bases its staffing on student requests for courses, which can result in some fluctuation from year to year. Last year, about 1,000 fewer students than normal signed up for elective courses, so staffing levels were decreased accordingly.

The problem is complicated because a change in the registration process for elective courses this year showed an increase to 1,700 requests, and about  775 of them won’t be fulfilled, said Vicky Rossander, one of four Valley High School teachers who spoke out about staffing levels at a West Des Moines school board meeting earlier this month.

Greater overall enrollment at Valley next year and a student population more inclined to carry a full load of classes over a minimum schedule also contribute to the problem, said Lisa Remy, associate superintendent for human resources.

Because of the staffing adjustments, 490 family and consumer science, 130 language arts and 35 tech education requests could not be accommodated this year, the newspaper reported.

“I would like all of you to understand the ramifications of that decision,” said Sarah Bird, who chairs the business department at Valley. “When asked, ‘Where will these students go?’ no one seems to have an answer because all of the courses will be filled.”

Conversations are reportedly ongoing. The school board will approve its fiscal year 2013-2014 budget on April 8.

Rossander, a past president of the West Des Moines Education Association, said the district’s process is “destructive” to morale because it forces teachers into adversarial positions where they have to “validate” the electives they teach as more important than their colleagues’.

“If I don’t get more kids in my class I could lose my job,” Rossander said.