Teaching Assistants Wanted
Parents of second-grade Springs School students asked the district to hire teaching assistants for their children’s classrooms at a school board meeting on Oct. 5. The request is the result of the fact that there are three second-grade classrooms this year while there were four sections of first grade last year.
The move has resulted in larger class sizes, with each section at 24 or 25 students instead of around 20. At the same time, while each first-grade classroom had a teacher and a teacher assistant, the second-grade classrooms do not have that second teacher.
“This is a really crucial year, and we’re asking you to put assistants in all three sections. We really need help,” Laura Petscheitis, a parent of a second grader and a fifth grader, told the school board.
Eric Casale, the school principal, said earlier in the meeting that he was working on a plan to schedule an existing staff member for a few extra periods per week in each of the second-grade classes. But, reached by phone after the meeting, Ms. Petscheitis said she didn’t think that would be enough “to cover the job that needs to be done.”
“These are kids who just learned to read and just learned to write,” she said. “They’re trying to do small group reading. If you’ve got one group with four or five students, the teacher also has to manage the rest of the classroom.”
Tony Long, another parent, also told the school board more support was necessary for second- grade classrooms. “It’s tough, it always comes down to money,” he said. “Please do what you can.”
Ilaine Bickley, a second-grade teacher, also asked the school board for more support. “This is my 18th year teaching here. One thing that hasn’t changed in 18 years is studies that show if there’s a gap after second grade it doesn’t go away,” she said, referring to students who fall behind in reading or math. The bottom line, she said, “is we need full-time assistants in the second-grade classrooms.” .
After the meeting, another parent, Stacey Pitts, whose oldest son is in Mrs. Bickley’s class, said she believes “there are just too many in one classroom” for one teacher. “My son tells me it’s busy. It’s a little hectic. Not in the sense that Mrs. Bickley isn’t doing her job . . . she’s just wonderful, but she’s just one person.”
Mr. Casale pointed out last week that the second-grade classes are within the range the school board has identified as the target size during the most recent budget process — 25 students, even though class sizes were around 20 students in the past. He also said there was no room in the building, he said, to split the second-grade classes into four sections.
He added that he believes a floating teacher between the three classes will help. “If that doesn’t work then I will go back to the board, and the board will either stay with the course of action we have or they’ll look to make a change,” Mr. Casale said.
“It’s their budget. I can only make a recommendation. In an ideal world, I’d like to keep the student-teacher ratio as small as possible, but that’s not my call at this point.”