Public Schools of Brookline administrators provided two updates regarding the Baker and Hayes Schools during a meeting of the School Committee’s finance subcommittee on July 17.
Baker School
The Baker School will hire an additional teacher for the middle school grades ahead of the 2024-25 school year, soothing concerns raised by parents and teachers.
Some middle school teachers at the Baker School were asked last year to teach outside of their areas of licensure more often than state regulations allow, and were slated to do the same next year. A group of concerned parents met with the Baker School principal in early July and reached out to district administrators, urging them to hire another teacher.
To fill the licensure gaps, the Baker School will hire one full-time middle school teacher, according to PSB deputy superintendent for administration and finance Susan Givens.
The district will have to reduce another area of its budget for the new hire, but Givens said she did not know yet where the money will come from.
Hayes School
At the same subcommittee meeting, Givens announced the district would not add an additional section of the third grade at the Hayes School for the 2024-25 school year.
Parents of incoming third graders at Hayes have advocated for adding a section to reduce class sizes. Several of the children in the class have health conditions, while others have learning disabilities or are English language learners.
The number of students registered for third grade at Hayes has declined since the parents started campaigning in March, decreasing from 48 to 46 with another two students in the process of unenrolling, Givens said. Both classes of Hayes third graders will have 22 students, compared to the district average of 18 students.