Abbotsford adds positions to support increasing enrollment

By Neal Hogden

The Abbotsford Board of Education decided to pass a measure that will help administrators deal with spikes in enrollment during the 2024-25 school year. The board unanimously agreed to add one extra full time instructor position to be used by administration as needed.

Bargender introduced the subject saying the district administration had talked about adding additional sections to keep the district’s class sizes lower while more and more kids enroll at the elementary school level.

Elementary school principal Abbey Frischmann said class sizes vary from grade to grade within the elementary school and it’s tough to gauge how big class sizes will be at the moment due to fluctuating enrollment numbers.

Board member Gary Schraufnagel asked about limits for class sizes and the Wisconsin Department of Instruction’s Achievement Gap Reduction program (AGR), saying he wanted to make sure the elementary school classes were staying within those guidelines.

Frischmann said the limit to qualify for the AGR funding was an 18:1 student- to-teacher ratio. She said the ratio doesn’t solely determine whether the district is in compliance with its AGR program requirements but it is a factor .

Schraufnagel said the current numbers looked like there would be some grades that would not only be above the 18:1 ratio, but also would include kids that have a lot of educational needs.

“With a lot of younger, non-English

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speaking students, do you need more individual attention?” Schraufnagel asked.

Frischmann said having kids enroll that have great needs in terms of learning the English language puts additional stress on staff.

“Today, we had a kindergartner enroll who doesn’t speak any English,” Frischmann said. “Our dual-language classes are our biggest sections so we had to enroll the student in our non-dual class, which is OK but the student probably isn’t receiving the language support they need.”

Frischmann said her 4K classes have 20 kids per section and they will start kindergarten next year. She said any additional teaching positions would help the elementary school control surges in enrollment for specific grades.

“It would definitely be utilized and I echo everything you’re saying,” Frischmann said.

On top of the additional position, Bargender told the board he would like to hire an additional fourth grade teacher. He said the position was left unfilled after a teacher retired after last school year because the incoming fourth grade class was smaller than in previous years. After having only two sections of fourth grade to start the year, Bargender said increased enrollment caused the school to open up another section of fourth graders with a student teacher to help keep class sizes lower. He said he would like to add that position back as a full time position as the upcoming fourth grade class will be back to a normal size.

Bargender also said he would like the district to hire an additional second grade teacher. He said this would create four sections of second grade for 68 students. This would bring the class size down to 17 students as opposed to 23 students with only three sections available.

Another staffing recommendation Bargender made to the board was to make a part-time elementary school administrative assistant full time. The position is currently a part time position because it is split with Marathon County Special Education but Bargender said there are more kids and thus, more duties for the employee so he would like to see the position become a full time one.

Bargender added one final recommendation, this time for the high school. He said a welding academy opportunity would potentially create a need for a welding instructor. Currently, Jillian Lebal and Randall Pempek work together to teach welding but Bargender said it would be nice to have someone who is not juggling other subject matters teach welding courses. He said Northcentral Technical College is willing to have an adjunctive professor come to teach the welding academy on Tuesday through Thursday.

Bargender said he has worked with Loos Machine and Automation and Colby Metal to provide an opportunity for the welding academy in which the students would see real-time work at the two plants one day a week. Because the instructor and Loos Machine and Colby Metal opportunities were facilitated through the academy, Bargender said he didn’t have a recommendation as far as staffing goes for that, specifically. He said the NTC instructor would also be willing to teach the students for a couple hours during the week which Bargender saw as a great opportunity to get high school kids college-level instruction in the welding field.

The additional positions will be added to next school year’s budget but will be up to the discretion of the administration on whether to use it or not.

Other business

■ ■ Bargender nominated the Abbotsford Education Foundation for the Bert Grover Child Advocacy Award and the foundation was recognized for its service to students within the district for 27 years. The foundation was dissolved in 2023.

■ ■ Bargender told the board that CESA 10 is starting its own version of the “Grow Your Own” program which aims to get more students to consider careers in the field of education. Bargender said the district is a partner of CESA 10’s program which costs the district $1,500 but ideally, it would result in more applications for teaching positions within the district.

■ ■ The Mexican Consulate will be setting up shop at the Abbotsford FEMA building on March 23-24. The consulate is available to help community members who need help with immigration, education, work, family, and other matters.

“It’s a really nice resource for those that need it,” Bargender said.

■ ■ Bargender said he has been out in the community educating the public on the referendum via “Coffee with the District Administrator” events. He said they have not been well attended but he said, that is likely a good thing as he thinks people understand what is being voted on in the April 2 referendum election.