School Committee Nixes Additional Kindergarten Teacher

Much to the dismay of parents in the audience, the School Committee denied a request from the superintendent Thursday that would've added a fourth kindergarten teacher at Brackett Elementary School in order to reduce class sizes.

"Shame on you, shame on you all," Cathy Murphy, a mother of a rising Brackett kindergartner, said aloud to the committee after the motion failed, 2-2.

Superintendent Kathleen Bodie told the committee that she had been monitoring class sizes at the school throughout the summer and decided to come forward now that the school's kindergarten classes are projected to have 27, 27 and 26 students.

"Twenty-seven for me personally was the tipping point," she told the committee.

The district's six other elementary schools have kindergarten class sizes between 21 and 23 students.

Bodie made the request directly after a lengthy discussion on the district's $1.5 million deficit from fiscal year 2010, which was recently uncovered. "I know on the heels of that other discussion, the timing is awkward," she said.

Bodie outlined where the money would come from to fund the position. She said the teacher's aides in the school's three other kindergarten classrooms would be scaled back from full-day to half-day positions, and the savings would be put toward the new position. Brackett already has a fourth fully-functional kindergarten classroom, she said, as the school had four kindergarten classes two years ago.

Committee chairman Joseph Curro Jr. said he couldn't support the request, given the district's financial uncertainty.

"I feel like the bad guy at the table," he said, "but I don't think in good conscious I can support this."

Committee member Judson Pierce also voted down the request, while Leba Heigham, who made the motion for approval, and Kirsi Allison-Ampe supported the hiring of an additional teacher.

Committee member Jeff Thielman abstained himself from the discussion and the vote, as he has a child entering kindergarten at Brackett, while Cindy Starks and Joseph Curran were absent from the meeting.

Pierce did ask if kindergarten students slated for Brackett could be given the option to attend a different school. However, for that to happen under the district's policy, kindergarten classes at the other schools would've had to have been under a certain class-size threshold, which they are not, according to Bodie.

Brackett Principal Stephanie Zerchykov, who appeared stunned after the motion failed, said she wouldn't recommend adding a fourth teacher later in the year, as kindergarten students get attached to their classroom teacher.

Murphy said she believes Brackett tends to have higher class sizes than the district's other schools. She said she thinks 27 students in a kindergarten class will be disruptive and will negatively affect student learning.

The first day of kindergarten is Monday, September 13.