Bedford County schools could cut smaller classes

The Bedford County School Board on Thursday discussed whether to cut up to 40 high school classes that currently enroll fewer than 15 students for the 2008-09 school year.

The school board requires approval of any classes with fewer than 15 students, member David Black said, and it could vote to eliminate any of the classes — 19 at Liberty High, 14 at Jefferson Forest High, and seven at Staunton River High School.

“I don’t think we can afford to have classes with 9 or 10 children in them,” said school board member Talbot Huff.

Many of the classes are third- and fourth-year language courses and other advanced subjects and electives, such as journalism, theater, programming, band, public speaking, and
anatomy.

But a complicated enrollment process means numbers won’t be finalized until eight weeks after school begins, and school board members said they didn’t want to cut classes that may fill up.

JF Principal Tony Francis and Liberty Assistant Principal Tim Overstreet explained the process at the meeting.

Francis said the division allows students to change their schedules by dropping and adding classes up to eight weeks after the start of school.

That contributes to many children taking an advanced class to test it out, then dropping it if they start to perform poorly, he said.

Last school year, JF had more than 650 schedule changes in its first eight weeks, Francis said. There were more than 1,000 changes, including changes made during summer. Each time a student drops or adds even one class, he said, he or she may have to shift around several subjects to avoid conflicts.

After such a large number of changes, the enrollment picture may look a lot different in eight weeks, he said.

“Allowing kids to change for up to eight weeks — it’s really challenging,” Francis said.

School Board Vice Chair Debbie Hoback suggested the board consider shortening the drop and add period. When looking into eliminating classes, she added, the board could consider only doing away with courses that have a history of drawing a low enrollment.

School board members also questioned if teachers of classes with low enrollment were being used effectively, and whether subjects could be combined.

Francis said some subjects complement each other well, such as keyboarding and accounting, but that others can’t be combined effectively.

Another factor to smaller class sizes, he added, is a new Early College program that allows students to complete high school with college credits earned from Central Virginia Community College.

“They’re opting to go take psychology or sociology at CVCC and waive the (high school) credits,” he said, referencing a Visual Basic course that had 19 students last year and only five in the coming year.

The board is scheduled to discuss the conundrum further, and possibly take action, at a July 17 meeting.

Also of note at the school board meeting:

- Superintendent James Blevins suggested the board consider taking measures to offset high fuel costs. He did not recommend moving to a four-day work week, but said that summer would be the right time to experiment with such a schedule if board members thought they may consider adopting one later in the year.

Chairman Gary Hostutler said current gas prices would put the division about $140,000 over budget in the 2008-09 school year, but that those prices may come down by August, when the board aims to adopt a gas contract with a set price.

Board Member Joy Wright said the board also could consider cutting nonessential bus routes and field trips, and member Julie Bennington suggested watching how other divisions handle the matter.
The group took no action on the item.

- The board unanimously voted to shift $850,000 from the division’s textbook fund to its general operating fund.

Director of Finance Randy Hagler said the transfer would help offset a $1.3 million shortfall resulting from a decline in state and sales tax revenues as well as a decline in the number of students, for which the district receives per-pupil funds.

- Board members unanimously approved three school board policy changes and heard first readings of dozens of other policies, all recommended by the Virginia School Board Association. Several of the changes include strict measures against allowing sexual offenders on campus during school hours or at school-sponsored events.