Bethel Park School Board defends staff reductions
Some parents have been quite vocal about recent moves to reduce staff in Bethel Park School District, but the school board has been relatively quiet. That is until now.
Board President Donna Cook said at the committee meeting Sept. 19 that Bethel Park’s student population has been on a steady decline for the past 15 years or so. The district’s employee population needs to follow suit, she said.
“It’s true we have reduced the number of teachers,” Cook said. “But we still maintain a very favorable student to teacher ratio.”
Districtwide, Bethel Park has about 12 students for every teacher, which is a bit lower than in 2003, at a 13-1 ratio, when the district was at a highpoint in student population, Cook said. She added that Bethel Park’s student-teacher ratio is better than most neighboring school districts.
Parent Michael Dokmanovich said the low student-teacher ratio is not evident everywhere. He said his daughter’s high school history class has 29 kids and some classrooms were so overcrowded that some students were sitting on windowsills without books.
Superintendent Joseph Pasquerilla said having 29 students in a classroom at the high school level is not unreasonable. Other issues of overcrowding were resolved within the first two weeks of school, which is the period when students can add or drop classes, Pasquerilla said.
Some parents reported problems with scheduling at the high school, with one reporting that their child did not receive a lunch period and another said their child had multiple study halls.
Pasquerilla said he investigated those instances and found they had been resolved. He said all high school students should be enrolled in their core classes, but some may not be able to take certain electives due to scheduling conflicts. “Everyone can’t have every single thing in class they want. I don’t know if that’s ever possible,” Pasquerilla said.
A board decision last month to involuntarily transfer a social studies teacher to a special education classroom prompted outrage at the subsequent school board meeting as well as online petitions and discussions on social media. Many board members were hesitant to explain that decision in detail, since they wanted to be sensitive to individual employees’ privacy.
However, Cook said she has confidence in all Bethel Park teachers – even those who are involuntarily transferred into new roles. “All our decisions are based on what is best for our children,” she said. “It is our responsibility to provide an excellent education and also be fiscally responsible.”
Cook said the school board wants to downsize without furloughing teachers. Instead, the board chose to eliminate positions when an employee retires or resigns and move other staff around to cover those responsibilities.
In another matter, the board approved three tax settlements from three businesses. HCR Manorcare Properties, Bethel Park Retirement Residence, and Centro NP Bethel Park appealed their property values from 2014. As a result of the settlements, the district stands to gain $358,610.