Rejiggering elementary schools back on the table

The Del Norte County Unified School District will resume discussion Thursday on whether to reconfigure Crescent City’s elementary schools.

In the last year, the School Board has talked about reconfiguring Bess Max­well, Mary Peacock, Joe Hamilton and Pine Grove elementary schools to in­clude only three grade levels, but didn’t make a decision.

Increasing class sizes for the K-3 grade levels this school year to offset state budget cuts has resulted in more com­bin­ation classes, Sup­er­in­ten­dent Jan Moore­­­house said.

Com­bin­a­tion classes put students in two grades into one classroom be­cause there aren’t enough students in a single grade to make up one class.

“Special­iz­ation at schools helps to reduce the number of doubled-up grades,” Moorehouse said.

For example, one elementary school might serve kindergarten through second grade while another might serve third through fifth grades.

By “specializing” in only a few grades, teachers can work more closely together and better help students learn, Moorehouse said.

She stressed that Thursday’s meeting will only be the first conversation on this topic, but wants to start it now to “really plan it.”

“We know there will be push-back on this topic from the staff and community,” she said. “If we’re going to make the case for the board to make the decision we want them to understand why.”

If those school configurations do change, parents might be upset if their child has to go to a different school, and teachers also might not want to change schools.

If and when the board makes the decision to reconfigure the elementary schools, Moorehouse said changes would not take effect until next school year.

Also on Thursday, the School Board will start a new conversation on a well-worn subject: budget cuts.

“We will be asking board members to generate a list of things they want us to look into,” Moorehouse said about possible cost-saving measures for the 2010-11 school year.

The state will likely issue another round of budget cuts, but next year the school district won’t have stimulus money from the federal government to fall back on, Moorehouse said.

The district used about $3 million in stimulus funds to help balance the 2009-2010 budget, but it’s unlikely it will receive stimulus funds next year to offset state cuts.

“That’s the starting point,” Moorehouse said.