Subcommittee refers hiring of up to six teachers and paraprofessionals to full committee to address rising class sizes

The Fall River City Special Education, Alternative & Early Childhood Subcommittee voted May 29 to refer to the full committee a motion authorizing the superintendent to add up to six teachers and up to six paraprofessionals to address projected class-size increases driven by inclusion of students from substantially separate special-education programs and recent new enrollments.

Committee members said the measure is needed because district tracking shows growing numbers of students who “push in” from specialized classrooms into general education settings, and sudden late enrollments — including 18 new enrollments in May, only four of which could go into full inclusion — have strained available classroom capacity. “We do anticipate the need to open four additional classrooms at the elementary level,” a staff member presenting class-size data told the subcommittee.

The presentatio…