Clyde-Green Springs board revamps elementary buildings assignments
CLYDE ― The Clyde-Green Springs Exempted Village Board of Education announced a new elementary school structure for both Clyde and Green Springs elementary buildings effective for 2024-25.
Clyde Elementary will house kindergarten through second grades and Green Springs Elementary will house third through fifth grades. McPherson Middle School will continue to instruct sixth through eighth grades and Clyde High School will house ninth through 12th.
Revamping elementary buildings a response to state legislation
The decision to change the district's elementary buildings structure resulted from the state legislature's budget bill. The bill included several changes to the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, a state initiative to identify kindergarten through third-grade students who are behind in reading.
The new Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan requirements include additional "high-dosage tutoring opportunities aligned with the student's classroom instruction" for kindergarten through fourth-grade students.
That includes three days of tutoring per week, or at least 50 hours over 36 weeks, equating to eight-plus months, according to information from the district. Under the law, districts must adhere to these plans until students can meet reading proficiency requirements.
School board voted for option requiring the fewest new hires
District officials said that, to meet those requirements, a realignment of its elementary schools is necessary. The district's school board ultimately chose realignment out of several proposed options, which ranged from making no alignment changes to hiring up to about five new staff members. Officials noted how realignment would mean making the fewest new hires, saving the district financially.
"The proposed realignment addresses our children's educational and social-emotional needs by providing a structure where our most vulnerable population can be better served," Superintendent Lucas Messer said,
Messer highlighted the importance of realignment in fulfilling special education and literacy legal requirements while being responsible with tax dollars.
The district will post and fill Title 1 positions and possible subsequent openings based on staff movement over the next few weeks. Classroom materials and furniture, where applicable, will be moved after this school year and into early summer.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Clyde-Green Springs OH school district realigns elementary structure
