It wasn’t what the Denton ISD school board wanted to hear, but with both a budget deficit and a freeze on more than 100 full-time staff positions, district leaders presented a staffing plan they said will keep the larger class sizes seen last year, but with some flexibility.
In May, administrators reported that Denton ISD would keep more than 100 positions open — with some positions reclassified so that they can be funded through grants — through the 2024-25 school year. Denton ISD is a rapid-growth district feeling the pinch of operating schools in 2024-25 with state funding levels that last increased in 2019.
Across the state, public school leaders are hoping that the 89th Texas Legislature will increase school funding. But for the time being, it’s deficit budgets, and for some neighboring districts, closing campuses.
It was a blow for Denton ISD, which has also had to delay the opening of Fred Hill Elementary School to reduce operating costs. The new school was scheduled to open next week.
“There’ve been a lot of conversations about positions that we’ve absorbed through our budget this year,” said Denton ISD interim Assistant Superintendent Jason Rainey. “But to really make sure that everybody has a clear understanding of both elementary staffing and secondary staffing for both classroom teachers as well as administrators, we’ll work through that piece of that.”
The Texas Education Code requires school districts to employ one certified teacher for every 20 students, determined by average daily attendance. The code caps class sizes at 22 students per one teacher in prekindergarten through fourth grade.
Districts can apply for a waiver from the state to put more than 22 students in a classroom. In the past, when Denton ISD has seen class sizes swell beyond required sizes, it has had to bus students to another school with smaller classes.
“It’s not an ideal situation,” Denton ISD Superintendent Susannah O’Bara said during a break. “You could have a family that lives almost right next to the school their student is zoned for, but they could have to get on a bus and go to another campus.”
District leaders start planning for the next school year late each fall, and Rainey said each department participates in the planning.
“We work with our academic departments, which include special education, curriculum instruction — which includes bilingual/ESL [programs]” Rainey said. The district’s human resources department and business operations team play a key role in the collaboration. As they plan for staffing for the coming school year, Rainey said, the district looks at current enrollment and early enrollment. The team also reviews the district’s consulting demographer’s quarterly growth report, which focuses on housing construction, housing starts and closings to forecast growth.
Rainey said that general staffing is 22 students to one teacher in prekindergarten through second grade.
“The starting point for pre-K was 18 [students] to one [teacher] — we did increase that this year, but . the state guideline is that we don’t exceed 22 to one,” Rainey said.
In third and fourth grade classes, the district will cap class sizes at 24 students per teacher, unless a waiver is needed. Fifth grade classroom staffing will be 25 students per one teacher.
“There are no exceptions or waivers required for fifth grade,” he said.
In secondary classrooms, staffing is determined by projected enrollment. State law requires secondary students to attend eight class sections each day and teachers to teach six class sections daily.
Middle schools with an enrollment of 600 to 1,200 will have one principal. Middle schools with 600 to 900 students will have up to two assistant principals and guidance counselors and at least one assistant counselor. When enrollment hits 1,200 in middle schools, the district can add an assistant principal and guidance counselor.
In Denton ISD high schools, campuses with 1,200 students enrolled are staffed with one principal, one associate principal, three assistant principals, three guidance counselors, and one assistant counselor and career counselor. The district can staff one additional assistant principal and guidance counselor when enrollment hits 1,600 and again when enrollment hits 2,000 and 2,400. High schools can staff one additional assistant counselor if enrollment hits 2,400.
O’Bara said some staffing solutions were mistakenly seen as a result of budget cuts, but weren’t. In selected high school programs, such as choir, theater, band and orchestra, fine arts teachers were reassigned to a different campus where a fine arts program has grown while participation in the same teacher’s program has declined.
The district will also meet needs by assigning some specialists to multiple campuses. Some teachers already serve multiple campuses, but the district might have to increase the numbers of teachers who serve more than one campus. Rainey said the district will prioritize some academic intervention programs at elementary schools and meet needs at middle and high school campuses as well. Some interventionists will serve more than one population at one school, such as working as both a math and reading intervention specialist if they are certified.
For specialists, such as special education teachers, diagnosticians, instructional aides and support staff, staffing will be determined by caseloads. The district staffs one teacher for gifted and talented students at each elementary school. In middle schools, Rainey said, the district is considering bringing teachers for gifted and talented students into the staffing formula governing English language arts staff.
Rainey said that a funded residency program for University of North Texas education majors resulted in residents placed in administrative support for the emergent bilingual program, the free and reduced lunch program, and the Section 504 program, which serves students with disabilities and special education.
School board member Mia Price urged Rainey to monitor morale of teachers serving multiple campuses in 2024-25.
“I just think we need to keep a special eye and maybe additional support on this, because they’re really doing the district a huge service at a great cost to them,” Price said. “This sounds so negative, and I don’t want it to, but they don’t really have a home campus. They have more than one home campus.
“It is what it is, and we’re in this position because of a lack of funding. I get it. I mean, it’s not our fault, but I do think we need to keep an eye on this and have the principals give them extra support.”
