More on Bloated Staffing

Guest Contribution by Arthur Green

I have demonstrated that Timberlane school district is grossly overstaffed , due to a persistent failure to manage staff levels in line with declining enrollment (presentation to Timberlane Budget Committee, Oct. 23).

I have shown that the district could reduce 76 full-time positions and still

• have more staff resources than comparable districts with stronger academic results
• maintain the current level of special ed teachers and aides
• maintain the current level of kindergarten staff

None of my factual material has been disputed, and there have been no arguments rebutting my conclusions.

One objection has been raised in the blog discussion thread which I would like to deal with in detail – that the staffing level I am recommending would result in increased class sizes, particularly in the context of elementary school, where Timberlane applies maximum class sizes as a matter of policy.  (Note:  My recommended staffing level is based on comparing districts using standard NH DOE metrics.  I’ve previously illustrated the relationship between Class Size and Student/Teacher Ratio using Danville Elementary School as an example.)

Let’s look at the class sizes in the five comparable districts which have stronger academic results (2013/14 stats from the NH DOE web site – School and district profiles):

First, let’s note a few observations, remembering that all these districts have a lower staffing level (higher student/teacher ratio) than Timberlane:

• Keene has lower average class sizes than Timberlane (despite having elementary students distributed across 5 schools instead of our 4.
• Salem has about the same average class sizes as Timberlane
• Keene, Merrimack and Salem all have average class sizes within Timberlane’s policy maximum. Hudson’s average exceeds Timberlane’s maximum only in 1 grade.

Of course, average and maximum are possibly very different. Looking at the school-by-school breakdowns one can learn that Hudson, the district with the highest student/teacher ratio, would need to add only 3 teachers to comply with Timberlane’s maximum class size policy. Bedford would need to add only 4.

Based on my proposed staffing model, Timberlane would have 16 more regular ed teachers than Bedford, and 21 more than Hudson.

Conclusion: Under my plan, Timberlane would have ample teachers to maintain the current maximum class size policy if that is how the district prefers to prioritize its use of resources.

Keep in mind that the five comparison districts all have stronger academic results, so it is definitely worth questioning whether strict maximum class sizes are the right priority to deliver a quality education.

Update:  Thanks to a friendly reader for the offline suggestion that I add some discussion of the distinctions and relationships between class size and student/teacher ratios.  I added a link to my previous case study of Danville Elementary.