MENTONE - Six mothers expressed their concerns Monday about the upcoming school year to the Tippecanoe Valley School Board.
Chris Morehouse said the incoming fourth-grade class at Mentone Elementary is a large class, and they heard there will be only three sections of fourth grade at the school. With about 30 students to a teacher, the parents were concerned that would affect the students' learning. The state recommends a student to teacher ration of 17 to 1, but Mentone is almost double that.
Superintendent Dr. Daniel Kramer said he didn't know where the parents got the number of fourth-graders being 89, but the number he was given on the last school day was 85 students for Mentone Elementary. Akron Elementary was 82 students.
There is no hard and fast rule as to how many students a school had to have before a new teacher is added for a grade.
"We will continue to monitor this situation through registration," Kramer said. The number of fourth-graders at Mentone could increase to 90, but it also could drop to 80. After registration, a decision on teachers will be made. Kramer said he'd be more than happy to keep the parents informed.
Registration is Aug. 2-3. Kramer said that is not too late to add another teacher if necessary. However, even after registration, some students do not show up for school until the first day of classes. At the very least, Kramer said if they have large classrooms, they could add instructional assistants.
Parent Tina Cowan said that with Valley addressing the increased needs of special education students, funding for the higher-end academic students seems to be getting cut more and more.
Kramer said there are things for special education students Valley is required to do. Assistant Superintendent Brett Boggs said he thinks Valley is doing more for higher-end kids than they've ever done in the past. Valley is seeing growth on the higher-end students' ISTEP scores that they didn't use to see.
Cowan said Valley wasn't communicating well with parents on what the school corporation is doing for the higher-end students. Valley needs to improve on its communication that Valley is doing more than leaving kids out in the hallways to teach themselves, she said.
Busing was also another concern for the parents. One woman said her elementary school son picked up words from the high school students on the bus that he shouldn't know. Another parent said some sixth-graders were so harassed on the buses that parents got together and decided to take them to school by car. It was suggested that assigned seating on the buses might be a good idea.
Bryan Murphy, school board member, said each bus has a video camera on it. As soon as the bus is turned on, board member Dave O'Brien said, the camera comes on and can't be turned off. Boggs said parents should let their bus driver know what's going on.
Morehouse then asked the school board if money to pay for athletics was different from money used to pay teachers. Kramer said salaries all come from the general fund. However, the athletic department has a fund from ticket sales and other revenues to pay for officials, uniforms, etc.
Morehouse said Valley has a head football coach and six assistant coaches. She asked if three assistant coaches' pay couldn't pay for a teacher. Board member Rod Eaton said the amount of time an assistant football coach puts in versus what they get paid is not the same as a teacher. Three salaries also are divided six ways to pay for the assistant coaches.
Morehouse said Valley seems to be putting more emphasis on athletics than academics.
"I hate to say it, but it seems like we're becoming a Warsaw," Morehouse said.
She also said Valley recently decided to build a new concession stand for more than $200,000. Morehouse was told that not only did the building include bathrooms, but it also came out of a different fund which can not be used for teacher salaries.
