School board votes to move 7th & 8th grades

Sisters' sixth, seventh and eighth graders will have a new home this fall.

The school board decided Tuesday, April 29, to move the seventh and eighth graders from their present location at the middle/high school to the downtown administration campus across the street from the elementary facility.

According to board chair Bill Reed, creating a middle school is "the best way to meet the emotional, social and academic needs of seventh and eighth grade students."

He believes that while connected to the high school, "they have become second-class citizens."

The middle school will have 10 full-time teachers, one principal and an almost-full-time counselor.

Initially four teachers volunteered to move to the new middle school. Since that time five others others have expressed interest.

The remaining teacher may be transfered involuntarily.

Rich Shultz, currently the assistant principal at the middle/high school, will likely be the middle school principal.

Students will be provided with a music, P.E., art, wood shop, crafts and mechanics curriculum.

Sixth graders will not mix much with seventh and eighth graders, and eighth graders will rotate classes in a manner similar to high school students.

There was disagreement within the board over whether the middle/high school is overcrowded.

Jan van den Berg argued that, "the high school is overcrowded; that is a stimulus to relieve the pressure on this (the high school) site."

Connie Morris disagreed.

"We have been led to believe there is a growth crisis," she said. "In researching the numbers, that is not the case. We have a bulge working itself through the system."

Enrollment comparisons of 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 appeared to support Morris' contention.

Only the fourth, eighth and 10th grades show a marked increase in students. This year's ninth grade class was down 20 students.

In voting against moving the eighth graders, Morris agreed that middle schoolers should have their own identity, but thought it was possible to provide that at the middle/high school facility.

Morris also cautioned that placing the sixth through eighth graders at the downtown site would "automatically put it at or over capacity."

Superintendent of Schools Steve Swisher acknowledged that the classes will be at capacity, but indicated they will not go over capacity.

He explained that larger classes like P.E. and band will draw students from the regular 25-student classes.

Quarters may be less tight if a proposal for volunteers to build four new classrooms gets off the ground (see related story, page 1).

The four new classrooms might house the kindergarten and the elementary school computer lab, which would free the entire administration building for the middle school.

The proposed budget for the Sisters School District allocates as much as $20,000 to moving-related expenses.

The administration plans to repair the roof, improve the hot water system, install an intercom and clean and make cosmetic improvements.

Proponents of the move espouse academic and social reasons for creating a separate middle school. They believe it is undesireable for the younger students to be in such close proximity to high schoolers.

Most of the administration, including superintendent Steve Swisher, strongly favored creating a separate middle school campus.

Tim Comfort, elementary school principal, told The Nugget that while creation of a middle school will pose some logistical problems he is "glad the decision has been made."

He noted that the middle school will be crowded.

"Next year will be a challenge, but in the long run we need to go to a 6-8 configuration," he said