Central to add another fifth-grade class, teacher
Growth, added special needs students cited for expansion
To address the situation, the District 104 school board approved the hiring of Tiffany Totten as a full-time fifth-grade teacher at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday night.
Totten has been a sixth-grade special education aid at Central since the beginning of the current school year."Right now we have about 28 or 29 students in each of our fifth grade classes and each has a high percentage of special needs children," said Principal Pat Anderson. "Because of that, we're looking to divide our fifth grade into three separate classes. The need is genuine, so we can meet the requirements of all of our students."
Anderson said the situation in the fifth grade was something that was earmarked as a potential problem as early as the fall registration period. Since then, additional special-needs children have moved into district, several of which are fifth-graders.
"There are 11 students with special needs in the fifth grade," said Cassy Shelton, the school director of special education. "They are mainstreamed to the fullest extent possible - which is a good thing - but our fifth-grade teachers have expressed concerns about the situation."
Shelton said that all of the of the fifth-grade teachers at the school are versatile enough to take on varying roles next year if enrollment doesn't justify three classes at that level during the 2008-2009 academic year.
Shelton said the splitting of the two classes into three will be done in the least traumatic fashion possible and that the parents of affected students will be consulted in the matter.
"It's going to be a harder process than we thought," admitted Shelton.
School board member Kim Haverkamp lauded the school's administrators and staff for their diligence in monitoring the situation, moving quickly to alleviate a potential problem and for the sensitivity they've shown while handling the matter.
In other action on Monday night, the board approved a contract with Rhutasel and Associates for engineering services for the development of a Safe Route to School Grant. In a related item, the board also approved a contract with Jodi Caticchio for grant-writing services for the development of a Safe Route to School Grant.
The grant will be filed jointly with O'Fallon School District 90. The cost for the engineering services and the grant writer is $10,000. Central's share of the cost will depend on how much of the grant proposal deals with the needs of District 104.
"When the grant is written, if $300,000 of it is for District 90 and $100,000 of it is for us, then we'd pay 25 percent (of the engineering and grant-writing fees)," said District 104 Superintendent Steve Amizich. "It's proportional."
The Illinois Safe Routes to School is a federally funded program that was established in 2005 for the purpose of improving the ability of primary and middle school students to walk and bicycle to school safely. Among the many things SRTS projects deal with are new sidewalks. Once approved, SRTS projects are funded at 100 percent with no local matching funds required.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Rodney and Heidi Kreke, the parents of a Central student, appealed to the board to change the school's policy concerning cheerleading stunts.
Currently, the cheerleaders are not allowed to do any stunting of any kind.
The policy was adopted minimize or absolve the school of any liability in the case of an injury.
The Krekes characterized the policy as overly cautious and detrimental to Central students who aspire to high school cheerleading.
"When they try out for the high school squad, girls are expected to have at least a little background in stunting," said Heidi Kreke.
Also on hand to speak in favor of more stunting was former OTHS cheerleader Amber Wachol.
The board decided to form an ad hoc committee to study the policy and possibly amend it. The Krekes were asked to take part in the committee as were several board members and the school's athletic director, Dawn Elser.
