The Board of Education is looking to hire four new elementary school teachers to address increasing class sizes at and .
With next year’s projected enrollment bucking the recent town trend of low increases in new students, the Board of Education held a special meeting Thursday to address the issues of class size in the two elementary schools.
At Thursday’s special meeting, the school board authorized Superintendent Alan B. Bookman to hire four new teachers to alleviate the class sizes at both Naubuc and Eastbury schools. Bookman was authorized to hire a new teacher for the kindergarten and first-grade classes at Naubuc.
The three existing kindergarten classes had grown to 20, 20, and 21 students, the highest number of students in the district’s six elementary schools; most other schools have kindergarten classes in the high teens. The first-grade class sizes had grown to 23, 23, and 24 students respectively.
The board will also hire a first-grade and third-grade teacher at Eastbury. The two existing first-grade class sizes had grown to 24 students each. The two third-grade classes had grown to 25 and 26 students.
The additional teachers will cost the district approximately $70,000 each,according to Bookman. That includes the cost of insurance and benefits.
The first day of school for all district elementary students is Aug. 29. Middle and high school students start school on Aug. 28.
