BENTONVILLE -- The School Board gave administrators approval Monday to add kindergarten aides and a fifth-grade teacher to the payroll to keep up with enrollment growth.
The School District expects to begin the school year Monday with 16,800 students, which would be 604 more than were enrolled on the first day last year, according to Tanya Sharp, executive director of student services.
Enrollment history
Bentonville’s enrollment history as of Oct. 1 of each of the past five years:
• 2015: 16,060
• 2014: 15,497
• 2013: 15,081
• 2012: 14,880
• 2011: 14,123
Source: Staff report
"This is significant growth," said Travis Riggs, board president.
Several elementary schools and one middle school have enrollments beyond what staff can handle.
The biggest need is at Willowbrook Elementary School, which has 29 more kindergarten students than staff can accommodate. The board accepted the administrators' proposal to create eight-and-a-half kindergarten aide positions as a one-year solution to the problem.
State law requires kindergarten classes not have more than 20 students per teacher, but class capacity may be expanded to 22 if a half-time instructional aide is employed.
The aides will be at Willowbrook and neighboring Central Park Elementary School, allowing the district to enroll an additional 34 students combined at those two schools.
The positions are temporary because the district expects to open its 11th elementary school next year, easing enrollment pressure at Willowbrook, Central Park and two schools.
The board also agreed to add a fifth-grade teacher at Ardis Ann Middle School, which is over enrollment by 26 students, and gave administrators permission to hire as many as two more teachers to accommodate enrollment growth. Those positions most likely would be added at the elementary level if necessary, Sharp said.
The additional kindergarten aides will add $199,000 to the budget, including benefits. The other way to handle the growth would be to hire two certified classroom teachers, which would cost at least $230,000 given the costs of salaries, classroom set-ups and instructional materials, according to a district document.
"We have to turn around and equip that classroom and that's expensive, and we're running out of space to do that," said Debbie Jones, superintendent.
The fifth-grade teaching position will add $69,850, including benefits, to the payroll.
Other schools are over enrollment in one or more grade levels, but administrators plan to take a wait-and-see approach before committing to moving students out of their zoned schools.
"There are some situations where we know some families are not going to show up," Sharp said.
Enrollment at the high school level, meanwhile, is steadily approaching 5,000.
Bentonville High School ended last school year with about 4,300 students. It has 3,586 students now. The drop is because of the opening of West High School, which had 1,234 students in grades freshmen through juniors enrolled as of Monday. West will add a senior class in the 2017-18 school year.
NW News on 08/09/2016