School committee approves additional grade 2 section at West Kingston, funded from FY2026 contingency
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Summary
Superintendent recommended and the committee approved adding a grade 2 teacher at West Kingston Elementary to balance class sizes; the position will be posted to existing membership with recall-list procedures and funded initially from the district's $130,000 contingency.
The South Kingstown School Committee approved the superintendent’s recommendation to add an additional grade 2 classroom at West Kingston Elementary School to equalize class sizes across the district.
Superintendent James Pedraza recommended adding the section after the district’s enrollment reconciliation showed West Kingston’s grade 2 roster had grown from last year’s count and could reach parity with other schools if an additional section were added. “It is my recommendation for the committee tonight to add an additional grade 2 teacher at West Kingston Elementary School,” Pedraza said.
Pedraza said the district ended last year with about 44 second-graders at West Kingston, with registrations and transfers bringing a projected total near the mid-40s; Pease Dale’s second grade has a comparable total. He cautioned that class-size rules in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) set maximums for grades 4 and 5 and that transportation costs could result if the district placed students at other schools instead of opening a section.
On staffing procedures, Pedraza said the district would follow the CBA: the vacancy would be posted to the district’s current membership as an expedited two-day posting; if no current staff applied, the district would recall a teacher from the recall list on day three. “It would be an expedited 2 day posting…and then, in order to fill that position and then deal with any effects, if there were no…nobody going or looking to move to that position, we would then go to the recall list,” Pedraza said.
Committee members agreed the short-term fiscal impact would likely be small and recommended using the previously identified $130,000 contingency to fund the new section for FY2026. Committee members noted a possible shortfall depending on the recalled teacher’s step level; if necessary, a modest shortfall would come from fund balance, the committee said. The motion to add the West Kingston grade 2 section passed by voice vote.
What’s next: Administration will post the position, implement CBA recall procedures if needed, and report back to the committee on final staffing costs and any budget adjustments.
