Ames district proposes lower elementary class-size targets as staffing, Title I shortfall force reallocations

Superintendent Grimes presented the district's monthly enrollment and staffing report, recommending lower class-size targets for lower elementary grades and outlining immediate staffing implications.

Grimes said the district's draft recommendation moves kindergarten and first-grade maximums from 25 to 23 students per section and second grade from 27 to 25, a change she said would require maintaining two additional elementary teachers at an estimated incremental cost of about $150,000. "If we were to reduce four teachers through attrition, that'd be a cost…