Superintendent proposes moving first grade to Teran and tweaking kindergarten to shore up funding and staff

The superintendent presented a plan to reconfigure elementary-grade assignments so that Teran would become the district's primary first-grade campus while half-day kindergarten options would remain available, saying the change would "generate enough support units" to support additional staff.

Why it matters: the district is facing a potential decline in protected enrollment that could reduce funding and staff. The superintendent framed the Teran-first-grade option as a way to guarantee a firmer student count at one building and to recover roughly a half support unit compared with the status quo, which he said could translate into an additional half-time teacher and move staffing toward about 38 full-time equivalents.

Explaining the trade-offs, the superintendent acknowledged likely parental resistance and operational changes, including shifting start times so the reconfigured school would begin later and serving as a second location for students. He cited precedent: kindergarten students from Monave who have been bused to Hamer school for two years, saying that experience shows the approach can be made to work.

The superintendent gave numeric examples to illustrate financial risk. He compared a current projection of roughly "35.15 or 36 teachers" under different scenarios and warned that if the district preserves status quo this year, protections that boost funding could lapse in about two years, leaving staffing closer to 36'37 FTEs and possibly forcing further restructuring.

A board member asked whether Hamer could instead host upper elementary grades such as fourth through sixth. The superintendent replied that state instructional-hour requirements constrain that option: K'3 requires about 810 hours, while grades 4'6 require about 900, which would complicate busing and scheduling between sites. He also said placing older grades at Hamer would require a full-time administrator because behavioral challenges are more pronounced in fifth and sixth grades.

On instruction, the superintendent argued the HR K1 option would eliminate split-level classes districtwide by moving second'fourth graders to Teran, allowing one teacher per grade in several grades (for example, two teachers each for second, third and fourth grades) and better leveraging ADA-based support units. He said estimated first-grade class sizes under the plan would be about 14 to 15 students, and that HR has six classrooms with four in use.

He warned that students bused between sites would face long days — start times would likely be between 8:30 and 8:40 and dismissal about 3:15 — and conceded the plan is "not perfect" and could be inconvenient for some families. "Some parents will say that's not my choice. I don't want to do that. But we know that it can be done," he said.

Next steps: the superintendent said he will hold a pod meeting for parents (materials to be circulated beforehand) and named the 25th as a likely date; board members may attend individually to listen. No formal motion or vote on the proposal was recorded during this session.

The district identified the trade-offs as primarily fiscal (support units and staffing) and operational (start times, busing, and administrative capacity). The superintendent urged parents and board members to provide input at the forthcoming meeting before the district considers further structural changes when state protections decrease in two years.