ROCK SPRINGS – With schools back in session again in Sweetwater County School District No. 1, student enrollment numbers are reported to be just over last year’s end total. The number of employees also saw a small increase with another school opening.
Head of Human Resources Kelly McGovern presented numbers and trends of both employees and students population at the Monday night meeting. She said that the district now employs 1,288 people.
Of the 1,288 employees there are more classified workers that certified workers. McGovern explain the district has had to replace many positions and 2013-2014 was no different with 53 positions needing to be filled.
She said 21 position of the 53 were due to resignations while 23 were from retirements in the district. McGovern said the remaining positions were sub categories such as three promotions and the retirement of Jack Adams, Director of Finance, one of the top administrative positions.
“Since 2009-2010 year, 53.6 percent of our certified staff is brand new,” McGovern said. “With that many new hires you can image the issues with growing staff and professional development.” For the 2013-2014, school year there were 86 new hires total. McGovern also showed stats from several years back. She said the reason for the number of new hires was due to Eastside Elementary School opening. She showed similar trends when Pilot Butte and Sage opened their doors to students.
“As you see it takes a lot to open up a new building,” McGovern said pointing at the future with three new buildings set for construction in the district.
At the end of school last year, the number of students on the rolls totaled 5,561. On the first day of school, the number was 5,650. McGovern explained that with students leaving the district and other enrollment trends they see, the total number of students in now 5,583.
As for the overflow numbers which help lessen class sizes by taking students to Lincoln Elementary, McGovern said the two school which are highest are Sage and Walnut Elementary with almost 25 students per class. She added that they have to get to the 16 students to one teacher ratio and have been working on doing this. The grades with the highest number of students per classroom right now are first and second grades.
Another piece of information McGovern shared was project numbers of students in the future for the district. She showed that by 2015-2016 the district should hit 6,000 students and by the next year there will be just under 6,500 students total.
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