Nevada R-5 student population appears to be on the rise

Nevada's student population increase may be a trend, if projections for next year are realized.

During a regular meeting Wednesday night, Nevada R-5 Superintendent Dr. Ted Davis told the district's board of education that January enrollment was up by 56 students from last year's enrollment.

Increases occurred mostly in kindergarten, third and fourth grades, with a slight increase shown in some other grades as well.

"Even though the January enrollment from 2005 to 2006 is a mere 56-student increase, it is an increase," Davis said. "The current projection is that we may have a few more students when the district opens the school building doors for the 2006-'07 school year."

Last month, the board laid plans to add two mobile classrooms at Truman Elementary, which serves grades 3-5, where the student population will be larger than this year's, even if there is no influx of additional students in those grades.

At that time, Davis noted that a smaller class of this year's fifth graders would be replaced by a larger class of this year's third graders, making the board's target student/teacher ratio impossible without the additional classroom space.

Projections for the beginning of the coming school year estimate the total student population at 2,615, up slightly from the January figure of 2,606.

The board also heard from Assistant Superintendent Christi Peterson, who gave a transportation report that included information on student ridership and bus conditions. The buses traveled 341,885 miles during the 2003-'04 school year, transporting an average of 1,688 students per day at a cost per mile of $2.48.

"Cliff Pettibon is our transportation supervisor and he keeps meticulous records," Peterson said. "The annual inspection by the Missouri (State) Highway Patrol will be coming up and Mr. Pettibon is hoping that they will have an inspection that is deficiency-free for the second year in a row."

In a report about state legislative matters, Davis said that he and two members of the board, Larry Forkner and Chris Ellis, attended the Missouri School Board Association legislative forum in Jefferson City, Jan. 23 and 24.

Both Forkner and Ellis remarked that partisan political arguing seemed to be less visible than in previous years.

"It seems everybody had a more non-partisan attitude this year," Ellis said. "It's the best forum I've seen in five or six years."

Personnel matters were also up for discussion Wednesday night, when Davis asked the board to approve the career ladder program for another year, which it did. The program rewards teachers who reach different experience levels and take graduate classes and provide additional student contact hours.

"We wouldn't have the quality of school we have without it. Career ladder is directly related to student achievement," Davis said. "Career ladder allows us to recruit teachers who may be on career ladder at their present school and helps retain them when they get here."

The district currently has 25 teachers working on stage 1, 22 teachers at stage 2, and 84 teachers at stage 3.

In other business the board:

* Discussed the upcoming summer school schedule, of which Davis said, "We believe that our summer school program provides important remedial and basic skills opportunities as well as many creative and imaginative subject matter offerings that enhance our regular curriculum."

* Approved the summer school program for 2006.

* Approved a list of summer maintenance projects; prepare the Truman Elementary site for the modular classroom; repair the sewer line at the middle school; repave parking lots south of the high school and south and west of Benton Elementary; improve the bullpen surface and drainage at the bus barn; and remove old carpeting at the middle school and replace it with floor tile.

Daily Mail editor Lynn A. Wade contributed to this story.