THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407150262
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
School officials are cutting back on the number of teachers at some city schools for the coming year, to make up for over-hiring last year and to save money by eliminating small classes.
No teachers will be laid off, said Deputy Superintendent James L. Pughsley, but some teachers will be forced to transfer to different schools. Citywide, there will be a net gain of a little more than 64 teaching positions, thanks primarily to the opening of two new schools this fall.
Students, particularly in middle and high schools, no longer will be offered some courses, such as high-level foreign languages or specialty work training, for which enrollment typically is small. Top administrators must approve plans to offer any class with fewer than 12 students. Pughsley is asking principals to avoid classes with fewer than 15 kids.
``I think people are really upset,'' said Samantha A. Leslie, 17, a rising senior at First Colonial High, which is expected to lose 17 teachers this year. ``I mean the students are usually the ones who are supposed to be thought about, because it's their education. But they (school officials) are too worried about expenses.''
Pughsley said the changes are necessary in a school system where every dollar counts.
``We're not trying to deny anyone anything,'' he said. ``We're just being much more systematic about staffing allocations.''
Traditionally school officials have hired teachers based on predictions of how many students would enroll in city schools the following fall. Until recently, the system has worked. But student growth may be slowing down.
Last school year, about 1,300 fewer students than expected enrolled. The school system hired about 60 teachers too many, at a cost of nearly $2.5 million, Pughsley said.
An analysis of course offerings also showed a large number of classes with fewer than 15 students at the middle and high school levels. Pughsley said he did not know how much money would be saved by reducing the number of small classes.
``What we're trying to do this year is be a little more conservative,'' he said.
Principals can make special requests for small classes. And if there are more students than expected, more teachers will be hired in the fall, Pughsley said.
``It's easier to go back and add staff in September than it is to pull staff out,'' he said. ``We'd like to avoid both situations. But again, we'd rather be in a position to add staff than to have too many people.''
Teachers and principals already are feeling the changes.
At Princess Anne High, for example, where there will be about six fewer teachers next year, Principal Patricia W. Griffin and her staff have cut third-year Russian and an elective English class from course offerings. Some high-level foreign language classes have been combined.
Other basic classes - English, math, science and social studies - may be bigger, Griffin said.
``I think the cutback in staffing will certainly tighten things up a bit,'' she said.
George Parker, a first-year math teacher at Bayside High last school year, was put into a pool with other new teachers who would be the first to be forced to transfer.
He does not know yet whether he will be allowed to remain at Bayside or will be moved to another school.
``I am guaranteed to have a position for next year, which is comforting to know,'' Parker said. ``However, I don't know where. It's kind of alarming.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Deputy Superintendent James L. Pughsley says that about 60 teachers
too many were hired last year, at a cost of nearly $2.5 million.
Charts
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
[Includes the number of teachers at various Virginia Beach Public
Schools for the school year 1993-94 and projections for 1994-95.]
Source: Virginia Beach Public Schools
For copy of charts, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS
by CNB