Middle and elementary school enrollment remains steady. But for high schools, carving out space and hiring enough teachers is a challenge.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published August 8, 2004
Principal Dennis McGeehan expected Central High School to be crowded when classes begin Monday.
To cope, he secured six new portable classrooms - half again as many as the campus had when school ended in May. He hired about 20 new teachers, bringing the total to a school record 114.
Those preparations were for a projected 1,850 students. By early Friday, Central's enrollment had reached 1,932, up 20 from a day earlier, with families continuing to register.
The result will be even more floating teachers than last year, McGeehan said, and others instructing in spaces not intended to be classrooms.
"It is a challenge, and it does try your patience," he said. "We are as prepared as we can be."
Heading into the 2004-05 school year, the biggest bump in student population so far has come at the district's four high schools, where enrollment topped 6,100 early Friday. That compared to about 5,600 at the start of the second semester last January, and about 5,500 at the end of the year.
In addition to a boom at Central, Hernando High grew from about 1,170 in May to 1,240. Nature Coast Technical jumped from about 960 to 1,250.
Middle and elementary school enrollment hovered close to year-end figures. The total district student count of 19,881 was below a projected 20,215.
At least for now.
As Brooksville Elementary principal Sue Stoops noted, children usually pour in through Labor Day, pushing numbers well beyond the first-day figures.
That makes knowing how many teachers are needed difficult, especially with the state's mandatory class size limits in place. The district will figure out which schools need more and fewer educators after taking attendance on the 10th day of classes.
For the time being, though, "we're in good shape," personnel director Barbara Kidder said.
The district had placed 250 new teachers on the payroll by Friday. More principals went to the state teacher job fair in Orlando this summer than last, hiring new staffers earlier than in the past.
That was a critical move, Kidder said, especially as most other districts in Florida aimed to do the same.
"We're busier this year than last year because we've got a lot of classroom-reduction teachers this year," she said, referring to 93 positions created to meet lower class size requirements.
That total was added to needs arising from retirements, resignations and transfers.
The personnel department has several applications on file if principals have remaining vacancies or they receive last-minute resignations, she added.
Stoops said she had little difficulty finding 16 new teachers this summer. Most came through applications, not the job fair, and most moved here from outside the state.
"I heard it all summer: "There are no jobs up where I come from,' " Stoops said.
Moton Elementary principal Donnie Moen said he had similar luck.
The school had 717 students enrolled early Friday, just under its projected 726, and had no teacher vacancies.
"We were fortunate to hire teachers ahead of time. It's easier to hire in May and June than August," Moen said. "We feel real good about that."
It wasn't so easy at the high school level, where the positions often are more specialized.
"It's always a challenge to find quality teachers," said McGeehan, who still was looking for one more social studies teacher. "It gets more difficult every year."
