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Byrneville Elementary Faces Fine Over Half A Student
February 7, 2008
Byrneville Elementary School was one of 31 school across Florida to be fined for failing to meet Florida’s class-size amendment.
The state recommend a $1,963 penalty against the Byrneville charter school for what the principal says amounts to half of a child too many.
Byrneville Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan says her school averaged 22.5 students per class in the fourth and fifth grade when numbers were collected by the state last fall. The state mandates a maximum average of 22 students per class in fourth and fifth grades. The rules also call for a maximum of 18 in kindergarten to third grade classes.
One student has since withdrawn from the fifth grade, leaving the school in compliance at the maximum average of 22 students per class in the fourth and fifth grades.
“Because of that, I’ve had to turn students away,” Wolfe-Sullivan told NorthEscambia.com. “And that is just terrible because we are suppose to be a school of choice. But there’s nothing I can do about this; I feel very helpless.”
“A teacher when you count base pay and benefits like insurance can cost you $40,000 a year,” she said. “I just don’t have that kind of funding for half a student.”
Since 2004, Byrneville has added one teacher per year to keep up with the school’s growth, Wolfe-Sullivan said. She stressed that the school meets or exceeds all other state requirements; the school just had one student too many in a class.
In December, Byrnevile Elementary submitted an appeal letter to the Florida Department of Education. That appeal has since been denied.
“Seeing the situation coming, we addressed the possibility of hiring yet another teacher, but found that adding another salary and fringe benefits for half a student was not financially feasible or fiscally sound for our school,” the letter says.
To read the complete letter, click here.
Pictured above: Byrneville Elementary Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan with her fourth and fifth grade students at lunch Wednesday. NorthEscambia.com photos. Click either photo to enlarge.
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