KELLY SCHOOLS OVERCOME LIMITED ENROLLMENT AND IMPROVE STANDING (RATING OUR SCHOOLS; SEVENTH IN A TEN-PART SERIES)

BENTON -- Superintendent Don Abner said he is pleased with the results of his freshman effort at Thomas W. Kelly schools last year.

Despite challenges faced due to limited enrollment and growing space, Abner said students and staff showed progress in nearly all areas on the recently-released district report card. The report, published annually by all Missouri schools, is a mandatory listing of financial and assessment data.

"I don't want to indicate we can't do better, but I'm pleased with our progress in all aspects," he said.

Enrollment in Kelly schools has increased annually in recent years, resulting in 1,042 students during the 1998-99 school year. Because of that growth, school officials hired a third principal and developed a middle school program for sixth through eighth grades.

Abner said the inclusion of a middle school program helps early adolescents develop an identity for themselves within the school system.

"It groups that age group of students a little more appropriately," he said. "Previously, seventh- and eighth-graders were in the high school and sixth-graders were in the elementary school."

Enrollment growth benefits the district financially because it increases the amount of state aid the district receives for operational costs. However, the rejection by voters of a debt-service bond issue last year resulted in the additional of several trailers that are used as classrooms.

One of the trailers had to be placed in front of the elementary school and obscures the view of the view of the road from passers-by.

Abner said the Board of Education has not given up on convincing the voters to pass a bond issue. During the next school year, voters again will be asked to approve a bonding proposal for a construction project.

"The district is still seeing a small amount of growth, so this issue isn't going to go away," he said. "It's a matter of accepting trailers as an acceptable place to educate children or approving the funding necessary to build something more permanent."

In the meantime, Abner said school officials will use the slight funding increases the district has received due to enrollment growth for general education expenses and to bolster staff salaries. They also want to continue to hire more staff and lower the ratio of students to classroom teachers, which equaled the state average last year.

"Last year was a good year as far as the finances, so we were able to compensate teachers a little better," said Abner. "We've added some staff and a principal this past year, and hopefully, we'll be able to keep up with that."