Teachers hired, shifted to accommodate class sizes

Deirdre Newman

NEWPORT-MESA -- As the first week of school came to an end,

Newport-Mesa Unified School District principals were busy shuffling

students and teachers around to accommodate the shifting number of

students.

Some schools have hired additional teachers because many students

showed up who hadn’t registered, and others have reassigned teachers to

compensate for a lower enrollment than projected.

The enrollment numbers are reviewed every day for the first month of

the academic year and adjustments are made accordingly, said Mike Fine,

the district’s assistant superintendent of business services. The numbers

are looking good at both the elementary and secondary levels, he added.

At Kaiser Elementary School, Principal Daryle Palmer hired two

teachers this week -- one for an additional fourth-grade class and

another for an extra fifth-grade class.

Kaiser parent Nancy Jackson said she was relieved more teachers had

been added.

“There are some kids that had to switch classes, but this is only the

first week of school so it’s OK,” Jackson said. “If it had gone into two

to three weeks, it would have been a real problem.”

But Palmer said she was still concerned about the third-grade level

because there are three classes with 21 students -- more than the maximum

allowed under reduced class-size requirements.

Palmer said she would wait to see if more students enroll next week

before making any more changes.

Rea Elementary School also added another teacher, even though the

enrollment is lower than the initial projection. Principal Ken Killian

said school officials anticipated an increase in students in the

projection numbers but wanted to ensure they actually showed up before

hiring an additional teacher.

The new teacher will be assigned to the fourth grade, where the

classes are the most crowded, Killian added.

At Victoria Elementary School, enrollment was also lower than

projected, reducing the need for one classroom teacher. That teacher

became a reading teacher instead, Principal Judy Laakso said.

For the elementary schools in the district, the enrollment is 11,582,

while the projection was for 11,793. Fine said the bulk of that

discrepancy stems from lower numbers for the kindergartners because

projecting for that grade is “like a shot in the dark.”

At the high school level, enrollment is 66 students off the projected

number, but that could change because the district has not received the

final count on the students who have registered but haven’t shown up yet,

Fine said.

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail ato7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .