Declining enrollment impacts students and teachers
The effects of lower enrollment rates on course selection and schedules
By Anushka De
By Anushka De
Literature teachers distributed yellow course request forms to all of their freshmen, sophomore and junior students starting Jan. 20, allowing students to decide their schedule for the upcoming school year. Each year, assistant principal Michael Martinez works with U.S. History teacher Bonnie Belshe to create a master schedule, the schedule accommodating every student and teacher, for the upcoming school year based on these forms. FUHSD offers open enrollment, meaning that students are guaranteed the top six courses they select.
While building the schedule, Martinez and Belshe adhere to a “course formula” created based on graduation requirements and the Union Contract, an agreement between FUHSD and teachers.
The Union Contract requires the average ratio between students and teachers to be 32.5:1. Certain classes such as freshman literature and Algebra I have a 24:1 ratio, whereas others, such as Physical Education, have a 40:1 ratio. At the beginning of each year, the district takes the number of students enrolled for the upcoming year at an individual school site and divides it by 32.5. The district then allocates that number of sections, or classes, to the site. The scheduling assistant principal uses this to create the master schedule based on what courses students request.
As a result of declining enrollment at MVHS, the number of sections allocated to the school by the district is also decreasing. In the past year, MVHS experienced a drop in enrollment of 129 students, according to a report by FUHSD. Within the next five years, MVHS is expected to experience a drop in enrollment of 381 students, which will lead to 35 sections being cut next year alone, according to projections by that same report.
While building the schedule, Martinez and Belshe adhere to a “course formula” created based on graduation requirements and the Union Contract, an agreement between FUHSD and teachers.
The Union Contract requires the average ratio between students and teachers to be 32.5:1. Certain classes such as freshman literature and Algebra I have a 24:1 ratio, whereas others, such as Physical Education, have a 40:1 ratio. At the beginning of each year, the district takes the number of students enrolled for the upcoming year at an individual school site and divides it by 32.5. The district then allocates that number of sections, or classes, to the site. The scheduling assistant principal uses this to create the master schedule based on what courses students request.
As a result of declining enrollment at MVHS, the number of sections allocated to the school by the district is also decreasing. In the past year, MVHS experienced a drop in enrollment of 129 students, according to a report by FUHSD. Within the next five years, MVHS is expected to experience a drop in enrollment of 381 students, which will lead to 35 sections being cut next year alone, according to projections by that same report.
FUHSD Superintendent Polly Bove attributes the decline in enrollment to the rising home prices in the area. According to Bove, many residents do not sell their houses after their children graduate as they are unable to afford to live elsewhere in the community.
“The housing prices are affecting everybody in the entire county,” Bove said. “So the declining enrollments are countywide and largely statewide. In California, there are pockets where there's enrollment growth, but it's not in the high cost areas.” According to Bove, the number of students required to maintain the ideal number of programs and opportunities is 1,750. Currently, MVHS has 2,214 students, and does not expect to experience a drop in enrollment significant enough to warrant cutting entire courses or programs within the next five to eight years. Despite this, the number of sections at MVHS has been declining since 2017, and is expected to continue to do so in the foreseeable future. While a smaller number of sections may lead to fewer teachers at MVHS, Bove does not expect to conduct a Reduction in Staff (RIF) for the next five to ten years. Instead, if the number of teachers employed at one site surpasses the minimum, teachers are transferred to any school in the district lacking staff. |
“Right now, if you're a permanent teacher with us, and you want to remain with us, we'll find a place for you based on the needs of other schools,” Bove said.
In general, during the process of creating the master schedule, the top six selections of students determines which sections are cut before the school year starts. However, literature teacher Sara Borelli’s third period freshman literature class was cut at the end of September 2019, causing students to move to different literature classes. Borelli had been teaching six sections, even though Full Time Employment (FTE) for teachers in FUHSD is considered to be five sections.
“When [teachers] are first agreeing to pick up that extra section, [they are] never guaranteed to keep it,” Belshe said. “Teachers are making 20% more, and it's costing us a lot, so if there are spaces available and all the other classes would remain under the ratio, then those [sections] could be closed at any time. But we would never close a section that changes someone's [full time] employment status,” Belshe said.
Bove explains that the district’s first priority is to meet the needs of their students as much as possible with the district budget. She hopes to give every student within FUHSD the most comprehensive high school experience possible.
As the scheduling AP for the past four years, Martinez echoes a similar sentiment — his main focus for students has changed from teaching them to make informed decisions to urging them to consider their mental health and wellness. He wants students to have control over their courses because he believes that students are the most familiar with themselves and can create a schedule that they are excited about — more than any third party.
“We asked students to sign up for courses that they're prepared for, that are following their passions and interests, considering their wellness, making sure that they have enough time for their commitments [and] that they're considering their learning style [and] their grade expectations,” Martinez said.