Student numbers in District 186 slightly down; class sizes still a concern for SEA head

School District 186 reported Tuesday that it had 13,076 students from pre-kindergarten through high school, though officials acknowledged that number might grow as families return from the Labor Day weekend.

Superintendent Jennifer Gill said some 477 students also were excluded from classes Tuesday because they didn't have state-mandated physicals or immunizations.

The district did let students stay in class Tuesday if their families had scheduled appointments to get the vaccines or physicals.

All students entering kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades or attending a school for the time in Illinois are required to get a physical exam completed by a physician, a nurse practitioner or a physician's assistant by the first day of school. Updated immunization records need to be submitted to a school nurse.

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By state law, students can't attend school if they don't have physicals or immunizations by Oct. 15.

The total number of students, Gill said, is down from about 13,400 last year.

"We know we get that influx right after Labor Day, so we'll monitor that as the week goes on," Gill said. "We had a lot of people calling the office (Tuesday) asking, 'What school do I go to?'"

Typically, a number of students live with or visit relatives in Chicago over the summer.

Gill said the district has nine teacher openings and right around 40 paraprofessional openings.

The district is still hiring and has an open house at its board room from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday.

Springfield Education Association president Aaron Graves said he will meet with Gina McLaughlin-Schurman, the district's assistant superintendent of human resources, on Wednesday to get a look at class sizes from across the district's schools.

"Anecdotally, I've seen a lot of good class sizes and I've also seen large ones that could seem challenging," said Graves after Tuesday's board of education meeting.

Class size limits, according to the SEA contract, are 26 students in kindergarten through second grade; 29 in third grade to fifth grade and 31 in sixth grade through high school.

Graves said even teachers who are getting close to class size limits should be reporting those numbers to building representatives and to the union.

"A class (that's even a couple of students shy of the) contractual limits can still be an extremely difficult class, depending upon the makeup of the students and the experience of the teacher and their familiarity with the subject matter," Graves pointed out. "I'd say most people who are believers in education understand that smaller class sizes (especially) for younger kids allow closer interaction with teachers and teachers assistants or people working with those kids."

Graves said the jury was still out on the number of retirees and permanent substitute teachers the district had hired.

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What had Graves more concerned were the numbers of middle school and high school teachers who gave up "planning periods" to teach an extra period.

The district strings together three to six teachers willing to give up that time to save from hiring one extra teacher, but "overloading" can be a "double-edged sword," Graves admitted.

"Our district touts it as a good thing for people because they can earn extra money," Graves said. "You put people in a desperate situation where they need more money and then you offer them money, (they're) almost always (going to take it).

"They're compensated, but it's a trade-off. That's the time teachers are supposed to be spending time improving their craft or taking a break or checking in with kids, so if that doesn't happen, they're doing it as some other point."

Gill said she would "always like" to have our full complement of certified teachers on staff.

"We're keeping those openings posted to make sure we're hiring those highly qualified teachers," she added. "I think we're faring better than other districts our size."

Friday marks the first time bargaining teams from the district and from the SEA meet face-to-face since teachers rejected a tentative agreement on Aug. 9.

The formal contract expired on Aug. 17 so teachers are working under the terms of the previous contract.

"It's our desire," said Graves, "those things like safer schools, improved culture, acceptable workloads, basic workplace conditions, that the district can find it a way to make it an improved reality for our members. Reality exists on many levels. We hope to find one with common truth and conviction.

"If we can, Friday goes well."

Letter of Intent vote postponed

A vote on a formal Letter of Intent between the district and developers of the Scheels Sports Complex was pulled off the agenda earlier Tuesday.

Both sides were weighing contract language and a final version wouldn't have gotten to school board members until sometime Tuesday afternoon.

The contract formalized an agreement the two sides came to on Aug. 15. Under the proposal, the district would abate property taxes for Legacy Pointe Developers over a 10-year period.

The abatement would only be for the 95-acre site the complex would sit on off MacArthur Boulevard near Interstate 72.

In return, the district would get a "preferred rate" on facility rentals annually.

The proposed $65 million project would feature full-sized indoor basketball and volleyball courts and synthetic turf multi-purpose fields, which will be under a dome.

The board next meets Sept. 19.

Security update

The district has added security officers at schools and is utilizing metal detectors at home football games this fall.

Retired law enforcement officers have been added at Lanphier, Southeast and Springfield high schools, in addition to school resource officers and civilian security officers, Gill said.

Civilian security officers at Harvard Park and Butler elementary schools have gone from part time to full time this year, Gill added. The plan is to have security officers in each of the district's schools.

Fans attending games at Spartan Field at Southeast will have to go through metal detectors. Memorial Stadium is under renovation, so all three high schools are playing home games at Southeast.

Gill said there were over 2,000 fans at the Springfield High-Sacred Heart-Griffin game Friday.

"There were some lines, but people were respectful and appreciated the added security," she said.

In addition, the district has updated its threat assessment plan of action.

"We take threats in our schools seriously, bottom line, whether it's verbal, a threat with a weapon or a threat of any type of harm that may be done on social media," Gill said.

After a full threat assessment report is issued, disciplinary or restorative action is meted out, though there could be other interventions or alternative placement of students, Gill said.

The district continues to partner with Memorial Behavioral Health, she added.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield District 186 student numbers slightly off, class sizes big