Last year, responding to a drop in enrollment, the School Committee cut back the number of kindergarten class sections from four to three. But this year, enrollment numbers seem to be bobbing back up.
Superintendent Linda Dwight told the committee at its June 8 meeting that 54 children had already registered for kindergarten next fall or were about to do so. District policy sets an upper limit of 18 students per section at the kindergarten level, so the three existing sections are filled. If any new 5-year-olds arrive in town over the summer, as has frequently happened in past years, the committee could face a choice between scrambling to find an additional teacher at the last minute or setting aside its own policy on class size.
After considerable discussion, the School Committee left the decision up to Dwight. The school budget for next year already factored in the possibility of a fourth kindergarten section, so no financial changes would be necessary.
Dwight said in an email this week that she will make a final decision in early July. Meanwhile, school administrators will advertise the possible opening and interview candidates for a kindergarten teaching position.
