GRANITE FALLS — Changes are coming to the two elementary schools in town in order to shrink class sizes for the youngest students.
The Granite Falls School Board voted last month to move forward with a plan to reconfigure how students are selected to attend Mountain Way or Monte Cristo elementaries.
Both schools serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Where a student lives determines which school they attend.
Starting in fall 2016, the district plans to send all kindergartners through second graders to Mountain Way Elementary and all third through fifth graders to Monte Cristo Elementary. Though students have been divided into schools based on grade level in the past, it’s been decided by location since the early 2000s.
Going back to a grade-based division should help the district qualify for more state funding, enough to hire five teachers for kindergarten through second grade, Superintendent Linda Hall said. Districts can get state support based on class sizes and poverty rates. That funding has been inconsistent in Granite Falls, where the schools qualify some years but not others. Schools can qualify for additional funding if more than half the students get free or reduced price lunches.
“Our elementaries are right on the cusp, so sometimes we hit that number and sometimes we don’t,” Hall said.
When the district looked at the numbers by grade level instead of by school, younger grades have been consistently above the 50 percent poverty-rate threshold and with class sizes that are larger than state guidelines recommend, she said. By having kindergartners through second graders in the same school, the district expects to get the money more consistently. Hall estimates it could add up to about $400,000 per year, which would pay for five more teachers in kindergarten through second grade.
That would let the district reduce the number of kids in kindergarten through second grade classrooms down to 17 or 18. Right now, kindergarten averages 22 students per class. Smaller classes allow teachers to work more closely with students, Hall said.
Class sizes for third through fifth grade are expected to stay the same: about 25 kids in third grade and 27 in fourth and fifth grade.
The district is working with the teachers union to figure out which teachers would switch schools to stay with their grade level or change grade levels to stay at their school, Hall said. There are 33 elementary teachers and 826 elementary students.
The changes also would bring students in the same grades together before middle school and allows teachers to more easily share lessons and supplies, Hall said.
There are downsides, too. Fourth and fifth graders act as mentors for younger children in the same school and that dynamic would be lost. Siblings in different grades would be at separate schools instead of down the hall from each other.
“There are people who really love their school, whether it’s Monte Cristo or Mountain Way, so there’s definitely an emotional piece,” Hall said.
When school board members approved the change, they asked for more research on transportation, special education and cost. If problems are identified, they’ll reconsider.
For transportation, the district could have one school start and end 10 or 15 minutes later than the other, Hall said. The buildings are about a mile apart, so that would give parents time to drop children off at both schools.
Administrators are working to decide which school would house programs for students with disabilities. Life Skills classes are at Monte Cristo and a separate program for autistic students is at Mountain Way.
“We’re looking at the students and the parents and what the kids need,” Hall said. “That one takes a little longer to research.”
The cost of moving teachers and supplies from one school to the other is being calculated, as well.
The goal is to have that information for the school board by its March 16 meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in the district’s administrative office, 205 N Alder Ave.
Parent groups at the elementaries are planning an information event in May at Mountain Way. The district plans to post updates at gfalls.wednet.edu and on Facebook at facebook.com/GFSD332.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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