By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau
DELHI — Classes at the A.L. Kellogg Elementary in Treadwell will be reconfigured next year based on the recommendations of parents and teachers.
The Delaware Academy and Central School Board decided to reconfigure the classes instead of eliminating one of the school's three teachers, according to Michael Nadeau, school business manager.
A group of Treadwell residents and parents attended the school board meeting Monday to hear the board's decision on how many teachers and how many grades would be housed at the Kellogg school, according to Ellen Davis, a parent with two children attending the Treadwell school.
Nadeau said one of the people attending the meeting protested when the Kellogg school issue was not listed on the agenda.
However, he said, Superintendent Maria Rice addressed the issue in her presentation to the board.
"When I walked into the meeting, you could see the Treadwell people simmering," Davis said.
"But once they announced that there would be three teachers and the fourth graders were coming back, people clapped."
The school board had considered eliminating one of the three teachers at the school, but opted instead to adopt a proposal submitted by Joan A. Barber, a teacher in Treadwell, and several other faculty members.
In a letter to the board, Barber wrote: "I would like to propose that I be assigned to the A. L. Kellogg School to teach a combination 3 to 4 class for the 2003-2004 school year.
"Although I have never taught a 3-4 combination class, I feel that I am qualified to do so," Barber continued.
"The idea for this proposal grew from comments I heard from parents and community members.
"Kellogg parents and community members are opposed to having only two classes with two full-time teachers in the building," Barber said. "Many of them have shown a real interest in adding to the number of students attending the Kellogg school."
The school board approved the following configuration: A kindergarten class with 12 students; a first- and second-grade class with 14 students; and a third- and fourth-grade class with 18 students, Nadeau said.
Davis said the residents of Treadwell would like to eventually see students in kindergarten through sixth grade in the Kellogg school.
"We are taking it one step at a time," Davis said. "But the people who attended the school board meeting and the meetings at the Kellogg school felt empowered by the school boards decision."
Davis said she has a child going into the mixed third- and fourth-grade class and a child who will be in the kindergarten class.
"I was very pleased by the decision," Davis said. "I stood up and clapped."
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