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Third‑grade teacher urges Elkhart board to add paraprofessional after classes swelled to mid‑30s
Summary
At the Elkhart Community Schools board meeting, third‑grade teacher Brett Coverstone said his classrooms grew to about 34–35 students and asked the district to hire a paraprofessional rather than add an uncertified third section, and asked whether teachers would be compensated for exceeding district class‑size thresholds.
Brett Coverstone, a third‑grade teacher at Mary Feazer, told the Elkhart Community Schools board on Nov. 25 that his grade began the year with more than 64 enrolled students and grew to roughly 37 students per classroom as the school year opened. "Can we please just try to hire a para?" Coverstone asked, saying teachers had repeatedly requested a paraprofessional but were instead told the district would create a third instructional section staffed by someone who, in his view, lacked a completed education degree or student‑teaching experience.
Coverstone said he and a colleague chose to keep certified teachers with their students, describing the district's alternatives as either hiring an uncertified person "and we could teach them how to be a teacher during our prep time," or having no additional help at all. He also asked whether staff would be "compensated for having a class size that exceeds the district threshold." The speaker identified the stress on students from state testing and the disruption of shifting learners mid‑year.
The board acknowledged the comment during the public‑comment period and moved on to the agenda; no immediate policy change or motion was made on the record to address the teacher's request. The public‑comment rules the board recited at the meeting require speakers to give their name, affiliation and limit remarks to three minutes and prohibit discussing personnel or personal student matters publicly.
Next steps: The board did not announce an immediate operational response during the Nov. 25 meeting. The teacher's request and questions about compensation and staffing qualifications are matters the administration and board may address in subsequent discussions or follow‑up communications.
