2 months ago
The Bibb County Board of Education voted to hire new staff to keep class sizes within state guidelines on Thursday. Currently, some schools in the district have class sizes that exceed the state maximums.
Under the recommendation of Superintendent Sharon Patterson, the Board of Education passed an amendment to the district's budget to hire more classroom staff. Patterson said the county needs to hire more than 45 new teachers and paraprofessionals to keep class sizes below state maximums.
The additional hires will cost the district approximately $2.9 million.
Several Springdale parents at the meeting said they were pleased Patterson did not recommend asking the state for permission to increase class sizes in elementary schools.
"Everybody learns best with individual attention, and each additional child means less individual attention," Springdale parent Cheryl Stewart said.
Some parents were concerned that class sizes would be increased to fix the problem. That did not happen Thursday, satisfying many parents and board members.
"I'm very pleased," board member Lynn Farmer said. "I don't think that in this day we need to raise class sizes."
The number of kids enrolled in schools across the district changes daily, Patterson said. This is due in part to student transfers. Overall, enrollment is up in Bibb schools this year. Bibb County will need to hire new staff immediately in order to comply with the state guidelines.
