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Cuts may eliminate reading classes

EDGERTON — Principal Jerry Roth does not want to eliminate reading class at Edgerton Middle School.

“If we didn’t have to cut, I would never recommend cutting reading,” he said.

But the fact is, the school does have to cut two teaching positions in the 2009-10 school year, and cutting reading class is the most efficient way to do it, Roth told the Edgerton School Board on Monday.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction requires middle schools to provide reading instruction, but it does not require schools to teach reading as a separate class, Roth said.

The school could make up for the loss of reading class by incorporating reading strategies into other subjects such as science and language arts, he said.

“It is true that my recommendation is to reduce the reading program, but it is not fair to say I recommend that reading be removed from the middle school curriculum,” he said.

The Edgerton School District needs to reduce staffing budgets by $500,000 in 2009-10 to make up for falling enrollment and a change in state funding, Superintendent Norm Fjelstad has said.

At the middle school level, that means eliminating two teaching positions and a support staff position.

Most schools in the Rock Valley Conference already incorporate reading instruction in other classes, Roth said.

Under the proposal, the school would create a new class, applied arts, that would meet every other day and teach subjects that have seen cuts over the years, such as reading, health and career education. It would shift some core and elective classes to make up for the loss of two teachers.

Students struggling in reading still would participate in Read 180, an intensive, 18-month reading course designed to help students catch up quickly.

Roth’s proposal already has stirred controversy. Margaret Cotter, an Edgerton High School teacher and mother of three, gave a presentation stressing the importance of a class dedicated solely to reading.

“To cut the reading program is maybe the most damaging cut that we can make for our students, because reading skills are the most important underpinning for our children’s development,” she said.

Cotter rejected the argument that students could learn reading skills in other classes, citing studies that show students have better comprehension, writing, spelling, vocabulary and grammar skills when they have in-school reading programs.

Roth doesn’t disagree with Cotter’s findings and is “absolutely” concerned that students’ scores on standardized tests might go down if reading classes are taken away, he said.

“That’s something we’re going to have to monitor,” he said.

The school board did not respond to Roth’s proposal Monday. It has until next spring to formally approve the cuts, though Fjelstad has suggested the board approve them in fall to give staff more time to prepare for changes.

2008-’09 cuts

In addition to cutting $500,000 in staff in 2009-10, the Edgerton School District must cut $50,000 in staffing next year, Superintendent Norm Fjelstad said.

The district plans to do that by leaving two part-time business education positions unfilled at the high school after the teachers that hold the positions retire at the end of the school year.

Jody Bartz and Mike Neary both have notified the district of their intention to retire. The teachers divide their time teaching business education at the high school and computer classes at the elementary and middle schools. (Neary is also athletic director at the high school.) Together, they teach the equivalent of a 0.75 full-time position in business education.

The Edgerton School Board voted Monday to leave that 0.75 position unfilled in 2008-09. The computer classes will remain staffed, though the middle-school computer class will move from sixth grade to fifth grade over the next two years.