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Board and staff review FTE and enrollment projections; fractional positions, bumping and kindergarten counts discussed
Summary
Staff presented updated full‑time‑equivalent (FTE) charts and kindergarten enrollment projections; trustees asked for an FTE breakdown by experience and part‑time vs. full‑time to understand budget impacts and seniority "bumping" effects.
Board members and staff reviewed an FTE summary and enrollment projections, discussing how fractional positions and seniority rules affect staffing costs and program continuity.
A staff presenter explained that the district has fractional (part‑time) positions that are expressed in FTEs (for example, 0.6 or 0.4 FTE). Board members asked for a clearer comparison between the raw headcount of part‑time teachers and the FTE totals so they could see how many people are represented by fractional FTEs. "Like, 1 would be everyone's full time, then anything over that would…" a board member said, asking for a visualization of the FTE curve.
Staff also reported enrollment trends for kindergarten and other elementary grades. One staff speaker said: "It is trending in a positive direction. We're already over 70% of projection… Right now, we are projecting 205, and we're at a 47." That comment referred to an enrollment projection the district was tracking and indicated staff would continue monitoring registration counts as they move toward finalized budget documents.
Board members sought clarifications about seniority and "bumping" (the process that determines which certificated staff retain positions when a position is eliminated). Staff explained that when a position is eliminated, seniority rules can cause multiple "bumps" down the seniority list, which can be disruptive: "When a position is eliminated, if there's 1 bump, 2 bumps, 3 bumps… that in itself is extraordinarily disruptive dealing with the procedure having a lot of subject matter for a number of years," a speaker said.
Trustees requested additional analyses: a breakdown of FTE by experience level and a comparison between current fractional‑position configurations and a hypothetical all‑full‑time staffing model, to better understand compensation and hiring tradeoffs. Staff indicated they would prepare additional visuals (scattergrams/longevity charts) and that the board could address the topic again in a budget study session in the coming weeks.
Clarifying points noted during discussion: classified full‑time positions were described as 182 days at 6.5 hours per day in one comment; the district is hiring to meet student needs during the current year; and staff and union representatives (Sally, MIE president) are collaborating on models for health, nursing, and assistance positions.
No formal action was taken; staff committed to return with more detailed breakdowns and to present the information again in upcoming budget and study sessions.
