Hiring staff and accepting resignations and retirements are usually handled in the Shawano School Board’s consent agenda, where multiple items are approved in one motion. At the July 27 meeting, however, board members noticed an additional fourth grade teacher being hired and wanted some answers.
Until now, there were six fourth grade teachers at Olga Brener Intermediate School, in compliance with directives set by the board earlier this year that grades 4-12 would have classroom sizes ranging from 25-30 students. There are currently 157 students going into fourth grade, which puts the average classroom size at 26 students with the six teachers.
Adding a seventh teacher puts the ratio at 22 or 23 students per teacher, below the range. The request came after the board voted in February to cut the 2026-27 district budget by $1.77 million, most of that coming from cutting teaching positions.
Board member Tim Renard questioned where the money came from to add a seventh teaching position, considering the cuts.
“It has not been discussed in any way, shape or form that I was aware of, so I’m looking for a walk through this to understand,” Renard said.
Business services director Bryan Kadlec said the rationale for the additional teacher was due to the numbers, noting that the third grade class from the past school year was particularly large.
“It was just by nature of that group going through that particular cycle,” Kadlec said.
Board President Christine McKinnies said that, while she would like to see the district have more teachers, the district had to cut expenses, and the majority of the budget is covering employee salaries and benefits.
“We have two grades at the middle school that are falling between 28 and 30 students per section. So what determines that fourth grade, at 26 students per section, the need for an additional teacher?” McKinnies said. “I’m concerned as to why we’re picking one grade to not hold to those ratios when we issued non-renewals and made such a big deal that we need to stick to ratios.”
McKinnies said she believes that behavioral issues for students going from Olga Brener into Shawano Community Middle School have increased and that she’s baffled that an additional teaching position for sixth grade is not being considered.
“If we’ve found it in our budget to add a teacher, I would like to see,” she said. “If we’re not staffing to ratios, I would like to hear from the middle school if they needed that and where the need would be greater.”
According to district information, about 42% of the students going into fourth grade are on an individual reading plan, and 61% are reading below grade level. In math, 76% are below grade level.
Board member Bobbi Lemerond said she wants to see the student-to-teacher ratios for all grade levels so the board can determine where there’s a need for more teachers.
“Where are we sitting coming into this school year?” Lemerond said. “What is our current staff ratio for every grade, especially from 4-12, since those are the ones with the highest class sizes?”
Renard said setting up the approval for the additional teacher in the consent agenda puts him and the rest of the board in a “bad spot.”
“I don’t like what happened here,” Renard said. “I would rather we be more transparent and say, ‘Hey, we see the need for this. This is what we think. Do you support it?’ If the answer is yes, then you go and approve. You don’t approve first. It’s backwards right now, and that’s not right.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
