Classrooms Staffed For Monday’s Opening

Hundreds of teachers ready to greet students

Tammy Scribner, a first-grade teacher at Happy Hollow Elementary School, teaches reading Friday to her class in Fayetteville. Greg Mones, human resources director for the Fayetteville School District, said the district added several new positions because of Common Core of State Standards implementation.
Tammy Scribner, a first-grade teacher at Happy Hollow Elementary School, teaches reading Friday to her class in Fayetteville. Greg Mones, human resources director for the Fayetteville School District, said the district added several new positions because of Common Core of State Standards implementation.

When schools across Northwest Arkansas open Monday, classrooms will be adequately staffed, but school officials will keep a watchful eye on enrollment figures.

That’s because some districts may have to hire more teachers to deal with growth or may have to shift some teachers to other assignments because of a decrease in some classes.

Hartzell Jones, deputy superintendent for human resources in the Springdale School District, said he was making some adjustments Friday, but for the most part, “we’re prepared at this point.”

At A Glance

Class Size

The average student-teacher ratio by grade as required by the Arkansas Department of Education:

• One teacher for every 10 students in early childhood education programs.

• One teacher for 20 students maximum in kindergarten or 22 students with one teacher and a qualified aide.

• One teacher for 23 students in grades one through three, with no more than 25 in any classroom.

• One teacher for every 25 students in grades four through six and no more than 28.

• In grades seven through 12, a teacher shall not be assigned a total of more than 150 students with an individual academic class not to exceed 30 students.

Source: Arkansas Department Of Education

He said he’ll be worried about the number of children who show up on the first day for kindergarten.

“The numbers we have before school starts aren’t valid,” he said.

Those numbers, however, are the best districts can do to estimate the number of teachers needed to meet Arkansas’ classroom size standards.

Jones expects growth in the Springdale district. On the last day of school May 23, Springdale had 643 more students than it had on the same day in 2011.

Springdale has hired 130 new teachers, including the staff for the new Sonora Middle School.

Rogers and Bentonville also anticipate growth.

Roger Hill, assistant superintendent for human resources in Rogers, hired 80 new teachers and will be watching the student numbers.

“We have until Oct. 1 to get within the legal limits of classroom size,” Hill said.

Bentonville is expecting about 1,100 new students for the school year.

Galen Havner, executive director for human resources in Bentonville, said schools will be fully staffed. He has hired more than 125 new teachers.

“We’re in good shape,” Havner said. “There are a lot of well-qualified people who want to teach in Northwest Arkansas. So far, we’ve been able to hire even on short notice.”

Many of Bentonville’s full-time teachers come through the ranks of substitute teachers, Havner said. He has 200 substitutes returning this school year and has hired between 60 and 80 new ones.

The Fayetteville School District has hired more than 90 new teachers, the largest number for a single school year in recent memory. Of that, 16 are new positions.

Greg Mones, human resources director in Fayetteville, said the district has added several positions, including assistant principals at all of the elementary schools to help address the workload principals will have because of the implementation of the Common Core of State Standards.

Unlike Bentonville, Fayetteville hasn’t seen as much interest in substitute teacher positions, Mones said. Fayetteville tries to maintain a contingent of 400 substitutes.

Springdale and Fayetteville allow resignations from teachers, even after they sign contracts for the new school year. Jones said Springdale lost a couple of new hires recently because their employing districts wouldn’t release them to accept the Springdale positions.

“We could still get a resignation,” Mones said. “We’re lucky we have applicants.”

The applicant pool was strong in Northwest Arkansas this year.

Bentonville’s Havner said he reviewed an applicant pool averaging between 80 and 100 for the open positions in that district.

“The fewest qualified applicants for one position was 20,” he said.

Charles Cudney, Greenland superintendent, said he didn’t have difficulty filling positions this year, even though salaries in the district are among the lowest in the two-county region.

“We’re blessed to be adjacent to the University of Arkansas,” he said. “That’s a huge benefit.”

Greenland hired eight teachers to replace three who retired and another five who left the district, Cudney said.

“That’s the biggest turnover we have had in a while because of retirements and people leaving,” he said.

In the Gentry School District, Superintendent Randy Barrett said, “We don’t have high turnover. We’re looking for maybe two or three teachers, not 30 or 40.”

As in other districts, Barrett said he would keep a close eye on the kindergarten numbers. Gentry has six kindergarten teachers, which allows for 120 children, according to the state classroom size regulations.

If less than 120 enroll, the students will be placed in smaller classes, or a teacher will be reassigned to another position.

“There is a mystical aura that Northwest Arkansas is a great place to be, which it is,” Barrett said. “We’re an average-size typical school district, but a lot of people are interested in coming to the area, and that helps our recruiting.”

Upcoming Events