Among the situations the Warren County School District hopes to address through reconfiguration are inequities among high school class offerings and heavy burdens on some teachers.

The school board is hoping to address a teacher shortage that goes far beyond its borders.

“We are concerned about our teachers,” Superintendent Amy Stewart said.

Small schools are part of the problem.

“In medium and small high schools, there oftentimes aren’t enough students to fill several sections of the same course, so teachers have schedules that require the teaching of many different courses,” according to an list of Frequently Asked Questions posted by the district.

“If I’m a high school math teacher and I’m at a smaller school, I might teach six different classes in a day,” Stewart said. “I would be preparing a lesson for six different courses. That teacher has six ‘preps.'”

“When you are in a larger school with a larger student population… most of the time… I can offer three sections of geometry,” she said. “That teacher can prepare one lesson and teach it three times.”

That generally results in better lessons and in less stressed teachers, she said.

“Preparation time for the creation of strategic and engaging lessons s time-consuming and an important part of the teaching process,” according to the FAQ. The more preparations a high school teacher has, the more difficult the workload.”

In an era when there is a nationwide teacher shortage, those teachers who are available can shop for better conditions.

“One of the things they’re looking for… it’s not just money… but more importantly… ‘I have to teach six different grade levels,'” Board Member Mary Passinger said. “The teacher shortage is real. If we are asking teachers to teach six different classes each day… we’re not going to get those teachers.”

In deciding how to pick among the many reconfiguration options before them, Consultant Deb Thompson said the board could evaluate options taking into account their ability to “positively impact teachers as a recruitment and retention tool.”

Board members voted unanimously to use that criteria in their decision-making.

COURSE OFFERINGS

In the district’s smaller schools, there are few additional course offerings beyond the basics.

The district offers 27 different English Language Arts courses at the high school level, according to a ‘frequently asked questions’ document published by administration.

There are three levels of each of the core English classes, reading classes, and several electives.

At Warren Area High School, which has the highest enrollment of the district’s high schools, all but one of the cores is being taught this year. The only core not being taught is English 12 honors. WAHS is the only school currently hosting the one ELA AP program available — English Literature and Composition.

There are seven different reading classes and two electives among the 21 ELA classes at Warren.

Eisenhower also offers all but one of the cores — English 11 honors. There are two reading classes and three electives there for a total of 16 ELA classes.

At Youngsville, there are only two sections of each of the cores — no honors classes are available in ELA. There are two electives and two reading classes available among the 12 ELA courses at YHS.

Sheffield offers no honors-level core courses and two reading classes, for a total of 10 ELA classes.

There are 15 math options at WAHS, with only trigonometry and honors calculus (which are not being taught anywhere in the district this year) not in progress. Eisenhower has nine running math programs, and both Youngsville and Sheffield have nine.

There is one AP math class in the district and it is at WAHS.

In social studies, Warren is running 15 of the 19 available courses, Youngsville 12, Eisenhower 11, and Sheffield nine. Only Warren, with two, has AP social studies offerings.

There are 16 science programs at WAHS (three AP), 10 at Youngsville, and eight at each of Eisenhower and Sheffield. Other than Warren’s, there are no other AP science classes in the district.

“High school staffing is designed to allow students to make choices… to best meet their academic level, interests, and career pathways,” according to the FAQ. There are generally enough students to fill two different sections of core courses, even at small schools.

“Generally, the other courses are not offered if they don’t meet the minimum class size of 12,” according to the FAQ. “If a student wants to take a course that is not offered at their home school, board policy allows the student to take the course at another school, or the student can choose to take the course virtually.”

“I don’t want a child graduating from this district not being prepared because they don’t have the classes or the background that they need,” Passinger said.

ATHLETICS

The board has not indicated that it will take the availability of athletics — including marching band and three different cheer programs — strongly into consideration, but information about what is offered is available on the FAQ.

Warren Area High School hosts 19 sports — and there are no sports it does not host.

Eisenhower has 15 of its own and has cooperative agreements for its students to participate in Warren for the other four.

Youngsville has 10 and can co-op for seven more.

Sheffield offers eight programs of its own and has co-op agreements for nine more.

Neither Youngsville nor Sheffield have cooperative agreements for girls tennis nor boys tennis. Those agreements could be developed if students express interest.