JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD PLANS AHEAD

Jackson schools will need some 24 new teachers to accommodate the opening of South Elementary School next fall, Assistant Superintendent Fred Jones told board members during a meeting Tuesday night.

Jones told board members that early appraisals indicate the new school will need approximately 19 new staff members, while at least five other teachers will be needed to support expanded curricula at the junior and senior high schools and to keep class sizes small at the middle school.

Some of these positions will be fully funded by special funding, he said, including new early childhood and special education programs being implemented at South Elementary. In addition, the four new kindergarten classes planned for the school will bring in additional state aid that will also cover some of the new personnel costs, he said.

Board members took no action in response to Jones' report, but advertisements for new staff may be released later this week.

Jones also announced that administrators are working on new elementary school boundary lines for next year and will probably make a recommendation to the board at its next meeting.

Gordonville and Millersville communities will more than likely keep their sites, he said, but Millersville will be changed from a first-to-fourth grade attendance center to a kindergarten-to-third grade site. Four first grade classes currently held at Primary Annex will be moved to South Elementary.

"We got the impression during public hearings at Millersville that they wouldn't be opposed to that configuration," he said.

In other business, the board approved changes to the junior high and senior high school curricula for next year. Additional course offerings at the junior high include introductory speech and mass media courses. Seven new courses were added at the senior high, including: Contemporary literature; applied genetics; Advanced Placement English; three-dimensional sculpture; design techniques (art); Advanced Placement French; and Advanced Placement Spanish.

The class formerly known as pre-algebra at the high school will be called elementary algebra.