The Tomah School Board tabled a decision on hiring an additional first-grade teacher for the 2008-09 school year.

Superintendent Bob Fasbender recommended that that board wait for additional enrollment projections before making a decision on keeping a third first-grade classroom at LaGrange Elementary School.

LaGrange has three sections this year, but only 43 students are enrolled for next fall. Keeping three sections at LaGrange would keep class sizes at 16 or 17 students and allow the district to accommodate all open enrollment requests to LaGrange. With two sections, class sizes would rise to 21 or 22, and none of the transfer requests could be granted.

Superintendent Bob Fasbender said it’s already clear that kindergarten sections at LaGrange will increase from four to five. If only two sections of first grade are taught, the third first-grade teacher would be switched to kindergarten.

The district employs 60 classroom teachers in grades K-5. That number would rise to 61 if all three first-grade classrooms at LaGrange are kept.

District policy attempts to cap enrollment at 20 students in grades K-2, 23 students in third grade and 25 students in grade 4-5.

Sections over the cap include first grade at Oakdale and Warrens, second grade at LaGrange and Lemonweir, third grade at LaGrange, Miller and Wyeville, fourth grade at Miller and fifth grade at LaGrange. Ten sections are under the cap.

No kindergarten classes are over capacity. Wyeville only has a projected 2008-09 class of 12 students.

The board did approve three special education positions costing $129,000. Fasbender urged their approval because special education positions are more difficult to fill than openings for classroom teachers.