North Kingstown superintendent proposes six net new FTEs; staffing changes would add about $1.1 million before reallocations
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Summary
At a Feb. 3 budget work session, the superintendent recommended adding six net FTEs for FY27 — including instructional coaches, school psychologists and administrative positions — saying the full package would cost about $1.1 million before reallocations, with a projected net operating increase after reallocations of $566,339.
The North Kingstown School Committee on Feb. 3 reviewed a set of staffing recommendations the superintendent said are intended to align personnel with district goals and building-level requests.
The superintendent told the committee he proposes increasing total district FTEs from 572.74 in FY26 to 578.74 in FY27, a net addition of six positions. "If all these positions were added, the total increase, without any reallocation of positions and funding would be 1,100,000.0," the superintendent said, adding that reallocations of four FTEs could reduce that impact to an estimated $566,339.
Highlights of the proposal include adding a director of operations and a supervisor of facilities at the administrative level; two instructional coaches for elementary schools; two additional school psychologists (one full time at the high school and one shared across elementary schools); a special-education teacher and two additional teacher assistants for Hamilton Elementary to address a caseload that the superintendent said is currently about 35 students; and several stipend-based assistant coaching positions to improve athletic supervision and safety.
The superintendent said the administrative changes also involve the restructuring of existing roles, including a staff accountant whose responsibilities would be expanded and an early childhood coordinator whose duties from the Office of Family Learning would be consolidated under a single position.
Committee members pressed for placement details on psychologists and flagged ongoing concerns about substitute costs and whether some duties (for example, payroll) might be outsourced. The superintendent said the district is investigating outsourcing payroll but cautioned that many districts that outsource eventually bring the work back in house because of the specific grant- and payroll-related reporting required in schools.
The committee asked for follow-up information on where school psychologists would be placed, the distribution of the new instructional coaches, and how much of the staffing cost could be offset through other reallocations or savings. The superintendent said he would continue conversations with principals and bring back more granular scheduling and cost data.
Next steps: the committee will continue budget deliberations in the coming week with the goal of finalizing recommendations ahead of the town budget submission schedule.