Summer school experiences some bumps

Staffing issues, heat wave among the issues for Shawano
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

SHAWANO — The Shawano School District made it through another year of summer school, but school officials say there are a couple areas that need attention before next summer.

A substitute teacher shortage caused some problems when it came to teachers falling ill, and hiring few teachers created some large class sizes, according to Rod Watson, the district’s summer school coordinator. He is also associate principal at Shawano Community Middle School.

“Our budget wasn’t looking good for a while, so we went shorter on teaching staff,” Watson said. “I think that did cause some problems.” He added there were fewer paraprofessionals hired to help in the classroom, as well.

There was an increase in enrollment at Hillcrest Primary School, and two classes there had 24 students, according to Watson. “That’s not an ideal summer school environment,” he said. Average recommended class sizes are usually 15-20 students.

The substitute teacher issue comes down to money. Currently, the district pays summer school teachers $15 per hour, the same amount as a paraprofessional. Watson recommended increasing the pay, as was done for full-time teachers this year, in the hope of attracting more interested subs.

“With sudden illnesses, there were some instances where we had to combine classes temporarily,” Watson said. “We’re thinking of hiring one additional 4K (4-year-old kindergarten) teacher just in case those enrollment numbers go up again. And if they don’t, we can keep that person on as a full-time sub.”

This summer, the area also experienced a severe heat wave, which put some daytime feels-like temperatures up near 100. With some of the classes taking place outdoors, that put students’ health at risk, according to Watson. He recommends developing a contingency plan.

“About one-third of our summer school classes are outside. So when you have a dangerous heat wave, that changes everything,” Watson said. “We don’t always have the ability to put everybody inside and keep them entertained.”

Watson also reported some behavioral issues with students at the middle school this summer, saying that “the culture at the middle school needs to improve.” Some students were being disruptive in some of the enrichment classes.

Scheduling classes was problematic this year, mainly because Watson — who is in the Wisconsin National Guard — was in Arizona for four months, including the time when summer school took place. Several people attempted to fill the void. Multiple people doing the job ultimately created more problems than it solved, according to Watson.

“Next year, I’ll mess it up all by myself,” Watson said.

Watson is also recommending that the district develop some more advanced and gifted classes to attract some of the smarter students to summer school. He said the classes would probably be small in size, but he believes there should be as many enrichment opportunities for students as remedial ones.

There was some good news, as the district reported 1,305 participating students in its final enrollment for 2019 — up from 1,263 last year. Students were not required to come back to school the day after Independence Day as they had in previous years.

“We ended up with better attendance,” Watson said. “We expect to get about the same amount of aid from the state, about $100,000.”

The district implemented online enrollment, and about 40 percent of the students were registered that way.

“That saves about 400 pieces of paper right there,” Watson said.

Watson noted that, despite the staff shortage, the district had some success getting more special education students enrolled. He said that it isn’t always easy getting those students used to a “freer summer school environment,” but that it went well.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com