School board looks at student numbers

by Mary Le Arneal
Published 1/21/26

At the December school board meeting the board contemplated the question, “How do we want to grow?” After some discussion the matter was tabled until the Jan. 12 board meeting. That meeting was last Monday night and the board members once again spent a good amount of time discussing the options.

Melissa Harrell spoke to the board as a looping teacher, teaching fourth grade this year and as the mother of a July 28 birthday child, just three days short of the school start cut off date. Once a child turns 5, they are required to attend kindergarten.

Harrell presented data that NBE interventionist Randi Mimick had gathered. Mimick said there were 89 students in grades kindergarten through third grade who qualify for Title services. Of those 89, 28 had summer birthdays and 61% were using Title resources for extra reading help. The current solution available for younger students was to repeat kindergarten (which 30 with summer birthdays did), keep children home or daycare or find other resources. Harrell presented solutions other districts had tried, including offering a half day of kindergarten intervention for some students.

“Currently parents with summer birthday children who do not want to force them into kindergarten either keep the child home or at daycare for a year or commute to a nearby town for an extra year of preschool,” Harrell said. “My request is to empower both the teachers and parents to work together to make an educated decision regarding preschool retention that’s best for the specific child.”

Harrell spoke to a kindergarten teacher and preschool teacher and they came up with the following recommendations:

• Support retention of preschoolers who are young for their class where developmentally appropriate.
• Empower educators and families to make collaborative child-centered decisions.
• Recognize readiness as a key factor in early childhood placement policies.

There are 13 option enrollment students graduating in May. There are 44 preschoolers with 14 of them being option enrollees. Of those 14, eight have a sibling or parent already in the school. Other class enrollments are kindergarten 33, first grade 34, second grade 36, third grade 50, fourth grade 51, fifth grade 43.

The board voted to change the option enrollment capacity for next year’s kindergarten class to 44, up from 37. The rest of the number limits will remain the same: 37 students for first through fifth grades and 40 students in sixth through 12th grades. Once the limits are reached, no more option enrollment will be allowed.

Adding classrooms at NBE was also brought up. Superintendent Patrick Ningen said there would be room for four to seven classrooms, restrooms, etc., on the north side of the preschool classrooms.

“Of course we couldn’t add them all at once,” Ningen said.

After much discussion, the board voted 5-0, with Justin Taylor abstaining, to maintain the present enrollment numbers.

“We need to make the best decision with the resources, the information we have,” board member Amy Williams said.
Addition to NBE would have to benefit teachers and students. They would happen if there is a prediction of larger classes coming into the school.

The students are preparing for ACT and preACT testing and the school is working around the dates to make them to the students’ advantage.

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