Hi all, a point of clarification on the student/teacher ratio.
Andy, you quoted: "didn’t know that those aides and paraprofessionals also drive down the student-to-staff ratio". The DOE teacher count does NOT include aides and paraprofessionals, therefore they are not a cause of our exceptionally low student/teacher ratio. We do have a number of special education teachers (9 in the Lincoln School campus). Federal and State sources pay for $385K of the expense (page 11, F24 preliminary budget <https://www.lincnet.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=11409&dataid=26412&FileName=8.1.1%20FY24%20Lincoln%20Public%20Schools%20Preliminary%20Budget%20book2022.11.28.pdf>). A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests the total overall expense (including benefits) is north of $1M on this line item alone. In addition to our 51 teachers (including 9 Special Ed), we have another 10 special education tutors, 9 instructional assistants, 2 general education tutors and 4 preschool assistants/tutors. In total, there are 118 FTEs in the school campus not counting 14 administrators shared with Hanscom. We have roughly 1 person working in the school for every 4 students. We are an outlier when compared to other towns. The staff distribution can be found on page 37 of the same link above. I am most certainly NOT making a policy prescription and I am NOT suggesting a termination of these services – they are very important. I just want to share some facts. On Wed, Feb 1, 2023 at 10:58 PM Andy Wang <[email protected]> wrote: > Peter, > > I think that comment was actually directed at my rattling off of things at > the end of one of my emails. And just to clarify, I wasn't advocating for > any of those things, I was just pointing out different directions the > school could go in if they so choose. > > Jennifer, thanks for the insight on special services. I thought it was > interesting, also didn't know that those aides and paraprofessionals also > drive down the student-to-staff ratio. > > - Andy > > > On Wed, Feb 1, 2023 at 8:53 PM Peter Buchthal <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Jennifer, >> I never mentioned decreasing "services." I tried to say that we have >> lost 20 % of our student body over the last 10 years and our school >> expenditures has gone up 25% during that >> time (not counting inflation). Maybe we should start to look at >> optimizing the things we do to be able to offer more, not less to our >> students. If there's money left, we can use it to defray >> next year's budget override, as I doubt that the teachers union will >> accept the 1% salary increase predicted in next year's Budget. I am all >> for paying the teachers and staff well, maybe just >> a fewer number of them. >> >> Special Education is super important for so many reasons, so don't >> worry. >> >> Peter >> >> On Tue, Jan 31, 2023 at 9:46 PM Jennifer Saffran < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> You mentioned decreasing “special” services. If you mean special >>> education, understand that there are complex state and federal laws and >>> regulations that govern these. >>> >>> The good news is that the additional staff that is demanded, >>> particularly in-classroom aides and paraprofessionals lower the student to >>> staff ratios. Also, funding for special education is a combination of >>> local, state, and federal dollars. The LEA (local school district) is not >>> responsible for paying for all of it. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Jan 31, 2023, at 9:18 PM, Andy Wang <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Peter, >>> >>> I was just keying off of something you said "The recently approved FY24 >>> Budget contradicts the chart as it funds 4 classroom teachers per each 6, 7 >>> and 8 grade. " What are you keying off of in the budget? How are you >>> counting teachers where there are ones that teach sections across grades >>> and specialists? I was just pointing out that while there were 4 >>> homeroom teachers in 6th, but there are only 3 sections for the kids. >>> Those teachers don't 'just have homeroom duties', like my kid's homeroom >>> teacher is also his ELA teacher. >>> >>> Parents can certainly voice concerns. Gifted children want extra >>> attention, and parents of gifted kids advocate for that. Struggling >>> students want extra attention, and those parents advocate for them. It IS >>> complicated in the sense that you need to optimize across a wide range of >>> students and abilities, and philosophical stance on what it means to be a >>> student at Lincoln Public Schools and there are trades that need to be >>> made. I mean, do you KNOW that the administration hasn't looked at ways of >>> optimizing things? >>> >>> When it comes down to it, I'm happy to wax philosophical on Lincoln Talk >>> all day long (clearly), but my parting point was just that the school >>> committee is elected and folks should be electing people who they think >>> represent their views. There are many ways to focus the school. We could >>> teach more to the MCAS and increase that ranking, we could make larger >>> classes, remove special programs, decrease special services, increase >>> gifted programs, decrease spending. All of those things come with >>> trade-offs and those decisions are not going to be made here. And only >>> foot stomping this stronger now cause deadline to pull papers is tomorrow. >>> >>> - Andy >>> >>> >>> >>> On Tue, Jan 31, 2023 at 8:53 PM Peter Buchthal <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Andy, >>>> >>>> I don't see your distinction between listed teachers who have >>>> classrooms for core subjects and other teachers who apparently just host >>>> homeroom students and have other classroom duties. Our school population >>>> has decreased by 20 % in the last 10 years and apparently the >>>> administration and school committee can't even consider *optimizing* the >>>> staff to offer additional academic services the students and parents want >>>> while lowering the ongoing costs of running the school. Every year, >>>> without much debate, the School Committee asks and gets the maximum 2.5% >>>> raise over the previous year and that is considered success even though our >>>> school population keeps going down. Our student teacher ratio is >>>> significantly lower than almost everyone (37% more teachers than the state >>>> average), Our MCAS scores are middle of the pack, our cost per student is >>>> 6K higher than almost every other school except for Weston and the School >>>> says basically, "we can't cut a thing, you don't understand, it's >>>> complicated." >>>> >>>> <Screenshot 2023-01-31 at 7.42.59 PM.png> >>>> ReplyForward >>>> >>>> >>>> On Tue, Jan 31, 2023 at 6:14 PM Andy Wang <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Peter, >>>>> >>>>> Not to jump in on a conversation between you and John, but since you >>>>> posted publicly, I figure it would be okay. >>>>> >>>>> I wanted to point out, that in the middle school, there is a >>>>> distinction between the listed teachers (from the enrollment report) and >>>>> sections that are on John's chart. I have a son who is in 6th grade (60 >>>>> in >>>>> his class). In the enrollment report you linked to (the 2022 Enrollment >>>>> Report), it indicates that there are 4 groups, what I'll call 'homerooms' >>>>> each led by a teacher (4 listed there). But when they go to class, he >>>>> says >>>>> they only have 3 sections, of about 20 in each section. This seems to >>>>> match the chart that John included in his email, which specifies sections. >>>>> I think in the middle school, the teacher ratio gets a little more >>>>> confusing since some subject teachers teach one grade, some multiple, and >>>>> also specialists (who could teach multiple grades) as opposed to in the >>>>> elementary school where the 'homeroom' teachers, for the most part, teach >>>>> all subjects to their class (but also some specials here too). While I >>>>> understand your argument, I don't think it's quite as simple as just >>>>> cutting a section. >>>>> >>>>> As a staffing side note, the town probably also doesn't want to get >>>>> into a situation where, say you decide to cut a section of a grade and >>>>> then >>>>> have a teacher who teaches across the middle school grades with a < 1 FTE >>>>> load. To which I think the natural tendency for those teachers would be to >>>>> go look for other employment when they can get a full time position. So >>>>> there is a balance there as well. Just some food for thought. >>>>> >>>>> To a large extent, while public Lincoln Talk discussions are >>>>> entertaining, real change happens in the committee, which is an elected >>>>> position. I'll go back to the statement that if folks are unhappy with the >>>>> direction of the school and want some impact, the more productive course >>>>> of >>>>> action is to run for a seat, state your opinions and views, and see if >>>>> there is a large enough group of folks who share that view. That's the >>>>> real mandate for change, otherwise, the committee really has no idea if >>>>> this is like 1/2 the town feels this way or it is just a select vocal >>>>> minority. >>>>> >>>>> - Andy >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>>> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >>>> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. >>>> Browse the archives at >>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>>> Change your subscription settings at >>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>>> >>>> -- >>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >>> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. >>> Browse the archives at >>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>> Change your subscription settings at >>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>> >>> >>> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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