Bigger is sometimes better.
The outgoing class of 2015 is about 120 kids larger than the incoming class of 2019, and some serious adjustments need to be made to the staff to accommodate that shift to a smaller school size. Currently, the administration is looking at de-staffing eight faculty members for the fall. Additionally, a couple of teachers who retired or moved this year will not have their positions replaced for next year. The de-staffed members are guaranteed a similar position at a different school in the county, but saying goodbye to a school they’ve taught or worked at for years is never easy.
“Every time you lose 30 kids you lose a teacher in the building,” said Principal Michael Mukai. “We lost some English; we lost some math… a little bit of everything.”
The cuts won’t just affect teachers; administrative assistants, custodians, and other members of the WS community will also be let go to keep the faculty size in line with the student size. And even teachers who aren’t de-staffed may see their positions shift to part time.
Partly to help mitigate the change, the students in the Daventry neighborhood – formerly in the Lee district – will be coming to WS next year. However, the change will only give WS 8 more students, so it could do more harm than good, adding more students but not enough to justify another teacher, since the county guideline is 30 students per class.
The smaller class size affects students too. With fewer kids, it’s harder to get traditionally smaller courses off the ground. Women’s Personal Fitness, for instance, was a new course that was offered for students next year that now won’t be happening, and the Japanese program will be cut completely. Spartans who want to continue with Japanese next year will be bussed to Lake Braddock.
The smaller school size won’t affect other parts of WS’s budget, however. Funding for sports teams, technology upgrades, and building maintenance won’t be adjusted downwards; the cuts will be done entirely by reducing the faculty size.
The issues with de-staffing and course cutting aren’t likely to go away any time soon, either. With a $100 million budget deficit projected for FCPS’s 2016-17 school year (which is being set right now), larger classes and fewer teachers could become the norm. And with many WS classes being moved to cramped trailers during the upcoming renovations, students and teachers alike should prepare for some crowded classrooms.
