Bentonville School Board Receives Personnel Study

— A personnel analysis of the School District recommends officials consider the fiscal impact of continuing to offer Advanced Placement courses with low enrollment as well as the long-term viability of the International Baccalaureate program, among other things.

A draft of the study, completed by Prismatic Services Inc. of Huntersville, N.C., has been provided to School Board members and will be discussed at the next board meeting.

At A Glance

Board Meeting

A School Board meeting scheduled for Thursday could be postponed because two board members might not be able to make it, according to Wendi Cheatham, board president. Cheatham said she wants the full board assembled to discuss the budget and other matters on the agenda. She was considering Saturday or some day next week as an alternative date.

Source: Staff Report

The district ordered the study as part of its effort to get expenses under control. The study should be used "to establish a curriculum direction for the future and the development of an action plan for the next two or three years," according to Sterling Ming, finance director.

Prismatic made several staffing recommendations for the elementary, junior high and high school levels.

There are 97 sections of AP courses at Bentonville High School with an average of 23 students per section, according to the study. A maximum of 30 students are allowed per section.

Prismatic recommends the school begin AP scheduling by first filling popular courses with sections of 30 students. This alone would reduce the need for 23 AP sections, according to Prismatic.

AP courses with low enrollment could be offered every other year, in a more cost-effective manner such as virtual instruction, or simply be eliminated.

The high school also offers International Baccalaureate, a two-year program that emphasizes critical thinking and analytical skills as well as an awareness of world affairs and responsible citizenship. There were 19 International Baccalaureate sections that enrolled 230 students last semester, an average of 12 students per section.

Eliminating the program would save about $250,000, assuming the students could be absorbed into existing regular education or AP sections, the study states.

The study also reports while a regular teaching schedule at the high school consists of five instructional periods, some teachers, including department heads, are scheduled for fewer than five periods.

"One teacher who is both a department head as well as a cheerleader sponsor/dance teacher has three classes," the study states. "Overall, there are 32 sections 'lost' because of these miscellaneous assignments."

At the elementary level, Prismatic recommends boosting the the number of counselors. The district's 10 elementary schools have either one or two counselors each, resulting in an overall 482 student-to-counselor ratio at those schools. Though the district's overall student-to-counselor ratio complies with state requirements, "Providing effective counseling in the early elementary years may contribute to reduced difficulties in later schools years," the study states.

Prismatic developed its study through interviews with district administrators and assessments of staffing allocations and outcomes.

The district must determine what curriculum areas have the highest value to the community, Ming wrote in a memo last week to administrators and principals.

"Bentonville Schools or any public school cannot be all things to all people. Bentonville Schools has finite resources to direct toward learning and teaching. This will require making choices and difficult decisions," Ming wrote.

The district has developed as a goal for this year to reduce staff through attrition, including resignations, retirements and reassignments. The district could save about $1 million next year by eliminating 15 teaching positions through attrition, according to Ming.

Grant Lightle, board vice president, said the study will play a big part in the board's consideration of the budget.

"We have a lot of noncontrollable expenses," Lightle said. "(Personnel) is one of the only things we have the ability to impact from a spending standpoint. You want to pay your people well and incentivize well, but you have to be really careful that you're the right size and you have the proper staffing for your needs."

Lightle said he is reluctant to target for cuts programs like International Baccalaureate that serve the highest-performing students, but it needs to be evaluated like all others.

"I know parents and kids who've done it, and they think it's a fantastic experience," Lightle said. "But we still have to look at how many kids are taking advantage of it, and are there other ways we could spend that money."

Grace Oliver, a 2011 Bentonville High graduate who went through the International Baccalaureate program, urged the board to keep the program during a meeting last month.

"I really hope you will preserve it to give students a chance to improve themselves at the high school level because it makes such a difference at the college level," Oliver said.

NW News on 03/04/2014

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