When they return to class this morning after a three-day
weekend, students and teachers in the Morgan Hill School District
won
’t see changes in the classroom, but some students will likely
be shifted around the following week.
When they return to class this morning after a three-day weekend, students and teachers in the Morgan Hill School District won’t see changes in the classroom, but some students will likely be shifted around the following week.
According to Assistant Superintendent Arlene Machado, some students do not return to school to begin the new year until after Labor Day, so the district waits to make final staffing decisions until after that date.
Districtwide, current enrollment is slightly under 8,000.
“We will be meeting with principals after Labor Day to look at enrollment and staffing,” said Machado. “Some of them are expecting a little bit of a bump in enrollment after Labor Day as some folks don’t arrive at school until then. If there are adjustments to be made, they will be made the week after or the week after that; it just depends on how many children have to be moved and where they have to be moved.”
School started Aug. 24 for the nine district elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools, plus the Charter School of Morgan Hill and Central Continuation High.
Machado said the district began the year with six temporary and six substitute teachers. Temporary teachers are on one-year contracts; typically, the district will hire the teacher on a probationary contract at the end of the year if a position exists.
The district uses substitutes in the beginning of the year to fill the gap between projected enrollment and actual enrollment. At the end of each school year, the district makes a projection for the following year’s enrollment, based in part on advancing each class of students to the next year plus an average amount to allow for new students.
“We hire substitutes when we are not sure if we will get an abundance of enrollment over what we have projected,” said Machado. “If it turns out the enrollment doesn’t show up, we can tell the substitutes that we are no longer in need of their services. It helps us out the first few weeks or so.”
One difficulty in staffing schools, she said, is that not all families notify the district when they move or put their child in a school out of the district, and some new students may not even register for school until the first day or after Labor Day.
Some years there are special circumstances that make staffing even more of a challenge and cause major student shuffles. The year a “mini-Barrett” was created on the campus of Paradise Valley Elementary to relieve elementary crowding before Barrett Elementary was completed was chaotic for many families. Barrett opened in 2001; mini-Barrett occupied the Paradise Valley campus during the 2000-2001 school year.
This year, Sobrato High opened, and a unique set of problems was created with ninth graders back at the high school and many parents and students requesting transfers from their home school of Sobrato to Live Oak. Parents and students on a transfer waiting list have let School Board trustees know during meetings that they feel all transfers should be honored this year.
Another glitch this year occurred with a handful of middle school students: 14 Britton students and nine Martin Murphy students, all eighth graders, signed up for geometry, but because there were not enough students to fill a class, the Martin Murphy students are taking their class at Sobrato and the Britton students at Live Oak. The Sobrato situation is reportedly working out well; however, parents of some of the Britton students going to Live Oak were not happy and requested the district consider alternatives.
Superintendent Carolyn McKennan said last week she and the two principals were looking for a solution.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at mdubil@morgan hilltimes.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202
