Enrollment at 3 of 4 Boulder City schools exceeding expectations

By Jean Reid Norman

Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 | 1:59 a.m.

Principals at three of Boulder City’s four schools say enrollment before the first day of school Monday is running slightly ahead of projections.

The principals had been concerned that if enrollment did not meet projections, they could lose teachers.

Only Andrew Mitchell Elementary School, which has kindergarten through second grade, is running behind projections that were used to set this year’s staffing levels, Principal Louise Varvar said.

Martha P. King Elementary, which has third through fifth grade, was up to about 450 students, Principal Tony Gelsone said. Garrett Junior High had 532 signed up, Principal Jamey Hood said, more than the 517 projected. Boulder City High would probably exceed its projected enrollment of 669, Principal Ann Nelson said, but she did not have a current count.

But at Mitchell, as of Thursday, 413 students were enrolled, 20 fewer than projections, Varvar said.

The first and second grade classes are full at about 19 apiece, more than the recommended 16 students for those grades, she said.

But the kindergarten classes are still behind projections, Varvar said.

There are currently four half-day kindergarten classes — two morning classes with 24 students apiece and two afternoon classes with 18 and 17 respectively. There is also one tuition-based full-day kindergarten class of 23.

The Clark County School District generally puts 30 kindergartners in a class, Varvar said.

“We thought at the end of July we would see a whole stream of people, and that didn’t happen,” she said.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said Wednesday that the School District is keeping a close eye on enrollment as well and is holding open some positions in case the entire district does not meet projections.

In a money-saving effort, the district staffed all schools this year at 97 percent based on last spring’s enrollment projections. If the district falls below those projections, more positions might have to be eliminated, Rulffes said.

Among current vacancies are 170 elementary school, 82 high school and 89 middle school openings as of Aug. 17, district Human Resources Director Martha Tittle said. High-needs science, math and special education positions are being filled, but others are being left open until after the district completes its final fall enrollment count in September, she said.

After that official count, teachers from schools that did not meet projections are moved to schools that ended up with more students than expected to level out the class sizes.

In a worst-case scenario at Mitchell, School District officials could ask the school to cancel one of the afternoon kindergarten sessions, Varvar said, leaving a teacher with only a part-time job or forcing the school to lose a teacher.

She said the administrators who oversee Boulder City do watch out for it and other rural schools.

“Maybe they will be OK with the numbers,” Varvar said. “They really work very hard for us.”

Gelsone, who is starting his first year as principal at King, said he would not be surprised based on his experience at other schools to see an influx of students right after Labor Day.

The only danger of staffing losses at King may be in special education, he said, where he could lose a resource room teacher. He expects the fourth and fifth grade classes to be 30 to 35 apiece, and if enrollment continued to rise, he could end up with an extra classroom teacher, he said.

At Garrett, the numbers were just right to keep all of the staff members, but Hood said she did not expect to gain any staff.

Nelson did not think the high school would reach the threshold for an extra teacher either.

“I really don’t know until the numbers are done,” she said.