School board OKs another kindergarten teacher

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REGION 16 — The Region 16 Board of Education last week approved hiring another kindergarten teacher for Laurel Ledge Elementary School due to a spike in enrollment over the summer.

The school currently has two kindergarten classrooms and 49 kindergarteners, one class has 25 students and the other has 24 students. Both classes has an aide along with a teacher.

The board tries to keep kindergarten classes to 18 to 20 students.

When the school board, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, set the budget in the spring, officials anticipated 33 kindergarten students based on enrollment figures at the time, Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin said.

The budget cut a kindergarten teacher from the school based on enrollment.

Yamin said the school picked up a few more kindergarten students in June but not enough to warrant adding another class. He said 11 kindergarteners registered over the summer, bringing the total to 49 students.

The board has a moratorium on hiring in place due to uncertainty surrounding the state budget, which has yet to be adopted, and education funding. Yamin said officials were trying to wait until October, when a state budget will hopefully be passed, to add the teacher, but they can’t hold off any longer.

“It’s just too many students for kindergarten,” Yamin said. “As fiscally responsible as we want to be in the region, we also have to make our decisions in the best interest of our students.”

The board unanimously approved hiring another teacher, which is expected to cost about $65,000 in salary and benefits. Yamin said it will take about three weeks to hire a new teacher.

Officials will work with the teachers to determine what class the students will be in once the new teacher is hired, Yamin said. He added the three classes will share the two aides currently working at the school.