THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408130281
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Legislative efforts to solve one problem for North Carolina schools have created a new set of headaches in some local districts.
The state this year ordered schools to reduce the average size of kindergarten classes from 26 to 23 students. Legislators earmarked funds for dozens of new teachers to help meet that goal.
But while school officials say they are grateful for the additional help, many in crowded districts now are scrambling to find the extra classrooms needed for smaller classes.
``We're trying to figure out where they will go at this point,'' said Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Superintendent Joseph Peel, whose district will have at least two new state-funded kindergarten teachers. ``We have no space for them.
``It's really an interesting sort of dilemma.''
Allotments from the 6-year-old Basic Education Plan, a state program intended to equalize fundamental services among school districts, were approved with the budget in July.
The Department of Public Instruction calculated how many new teachers each district would get from those funds at the end of last month. That gives schools only a matter of weeks to adjust before the school year begins.
``It certainly runs you into problems with space, especially if you are a system that is already crowded,'' said Jane Burke, superintendent of the Hertford County Schools.
Hertford will gain up to two new teacher positions, and with some ``shifting'' should be able to accommodate them, Burke said.
The short notice causes difficulties, but she said officials keep an eye on what the legislature is discussing in June and factor those possibilities into summer planning.
Part of the problem lies in funding roles the different levels of government play. The bulk of state education money traditionally goes into covering staff and services, while housing students and workers has been the responsibility of counties.
County governments can get stuck when the state expands staff sizes beyond what their school district has room for.
``The right hand's not checking to see what the status is with the left hand,'' Peel said.
School systems all over the state are facing problems with aging and crowded facilities. State Superintendent Bob Etheridge said this spring that billions of dollars are needed to bring buildings and technology up to date.
``The state needs to take a hard look at facilities across the state - particularly the low-wealth counties,'' said Perquimans Schools Superintendent Randall Henion.
If Perquimans adds any elementary teachers this year, ``you're talking about trailers or moveable classrooms,'' Henion said. ``When schools start looking like refugee camps, that's sad.''
District officials say they will manage to accommodate new staff members through ``shuffling.'' Pasquotank has already been converting work rooms and lounges to classrooms.
But Peel said the schools might be better off if the legislature delayed its edicts by a year or so, to let districts prepare for new staff members.
``It would be nice to have a little more time,'' Peel said.
Pasquotank won't even know which of its schools need new teachers to reduce the ratios until a few days into the school year. Parents often wait to enroll kindergarteners until the last minute, Peel said, which makes class sizes impossible to estimate.
While many officials can't find space for new staff members, some schools have a hard time finding people to take the new jobs.
Tiny Camden County is struggling to fill a psychologist position approved during the General Assembly's special crime commission this spring.
``We've advertised twice already, and we have not received a single solitary nibble,'' Superintendent Carole C. Smith said Friday.
Rigorous certification requirements sharply limit the number of eligible candidates for the job, Smith said. by CNB