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District presents RAM adjustments and staffing outlook to address class-size concerns
Summary
District staff reviewed a weighted resource allocation model (RAM) update and proposed modest shifts to elementary class-size targets, added FTE for elementary and middle-school math support, and noted continued monitoring at the high-school level.
District human-resources and administrative staff briefed the board March 11 on proposed adjustments to the district’s weighted resource allocation model, or RAM, and the effect those adjustments would have on elementary, middle and high-school staffing for 2025–26.
Chief Human Resources Officer Nick Proud described RAM as a student-based weighting system that gives each student a score for needs such as special education, English-language-learner status, free and reduced-price lunch and McKinney-Vento eligibility; the model combines average weight per student and total weighted counts to guide staffing and class-size targets at each building.
Proud outlined proposed, modest reductions to some elementary aspirational class-size targets at RAM 1 and RAM 2 levels — for example, moving some first-grade aspirational targets to 25 and adjusting other RAM 2 targets from 28 to 26 where feasible. He said those adjustments will require adding some elementary full-time-equivalent positions back into schools after previous budget-era reductions.
For middle schools, officials proposed a half-time teacher (0.5 FTE) at each building focused on math support; principals worked with district staff to determine how to allocate that time. At the high-school level, staff described smaller, targeted adjustments: adding teachers where course offerings lagged (one example cited was adding a teacher at Liberty High School to expand course options) and increasing ELL supports and sheltered-content sections where needed.
Officials said the online learning program’s growth may require additional language-arts and math staffing; the program uses broad single-teacher course loads across multiple grades and has been expanding enrollment in upper elementary through secondary grades.
Board members asked how RAM accounts for building size and staffing stability. Staff said the model factors both average weight per student and total weighted counts; it is dynamically linked to student data in Infinite Campus so changes in enrollment immediately affect allocations. They also said the district has relatively stable staffing in higher-need buildings and that principals and central office staff work together to manage course offerings and section sizes as student requests and enrollments change.
Staff recommended continuing to monitor proficiency correlations and to provide more visualizations that explain how RAM allocations and schedule-level decisions change actual section sizes for different student groups. Board members asked for future materials that show concrete examples and outcomes.
