WEB EXCLUSIVE

On Friday, students shifted classes and teachers as a result of an unexpected overpopulation of students.

“In the beginning of the year, when students are coming through the door, our enrollment went up,” said assistant principal Matt Ackley. “The district didn’t predict that, so we were a few hundred students above projection. I asked the district for more help on staffing, and they gave me teachers to allocate.”

AP Language teacher Kate Kammeraad took note of the influx of students.

“The school was projected to have only 2300 students at the end of the school year, last year,” Kammeraad said. “We received somewhere around 300 more students since the start of this school year.”

Kammeraad said the process to get new teachers takes time.

“We sit for two weeks or so taking attendance and interacting with our classes,” Kammeraad said. “We are able to go the district and ask for more money for the new students that we have, and teachers to teach those new students. The district releases some money to pay for the teacher. It takes about five weeks for the hiring process to happen, through posting and interviewing for the jobs.”

The leveling process that occurs afterward is the school’s effort to abide with state legislation.

“The excess throws off the balance in the classes,” said principal Joe Trybus. “Some of the classes go higher than the state statute allows. We have to look at all of the classes to redistribute and level the classes so that there is more equity.”

Kammeraad found the change necessary.

“Leveling absolutely had to happen,” Kammeraad said. “We had teachers with over 30 students in half of their classes. I personally didn’t have a single class under 29. With the amount of writing that we do and the amount of one-on one-attention needed for students, that was not a good ratio.”

Ackley seeks to foster a comfortable environment for all students.

“I wish we could accommodate each and every kid and the requests that we have,” Ackley said. “But when you have so many enrollments, it is just not possible. At the end of the day, all we can do is offer you the classes you need to graduate and get you into a class with a highly qualified teacher. The goal is graduation.”