After months of discussions and surveys to figure out a solution to reduce K-3 class sizes, the Aberdeen School Board has decided to move all sixth-grade students to Miller Junior High School.
At the Tuesday board meeting, the board members unanimously agreed to move sixth-graders instead of the alternative of adding portable classrooms to elementary schools.
Currently, Miller serves just seventh- and eighth-graders. The switch won’t be made until the 2019-2020 school year, and the district plans to form a task force to coordinate the transition.
If the district successfully moves the students to Miller by fall 2019, it will mean the district receives $600,000 more in state funding each year due to new state laws that require grades K-3 to have no more than 17 students in each class. Earlier this year the district reported having more than 19 students per class, on average.
Prior to voting, the board members reviewed an all-staff survey from April that produced pros and cons for both options to reduce class size. Some of the benefits of moving sixth-graders, staff suggested, were that it allows for better curricular alignment and planning, and more extra-curricular class options.
At the meeting, Miller Principal Lisa Griebel said she believes having an additional year at the school will help create a better sense of community in the school
“Miller sometimes feels like an in-and-out, and I think with three years, it would have a sense of home and belonging that comes with an additional year,” she said while discussing additional PE and music options available with more students at the school.
Some negatives commonly mentioned were that Miller could be overcrowded with the addition of sixth-graders, and that sixth-graders aren’t mature enough to be in junior high school.
At past school board meetings and on social media, parents and community members have raised concerns about sixth-graders switching to the middle school. Some have said they’re concerned it will require students to grow up too quickly, or are concerned about the behavior of seventh- and eighth-graders who would be mixing with them.
Due to the size constraints of the current Miller building, it appears sixth-graders are going to be somewhat separate from the two older classes. In order to house more students, the district plans to add either a cluster of four portable classrooms, or a single classroom complex to the east of the current Miller building.
Superintendent Alicia Henderson said it’s likely that sixth-grade students’ classes in the main Miller building would be concentrated closer to the portables.
The four portables, along with restrooms and a new sewer line, are estimated to cost $1 million. The classroom complex, which comes with two bathrooms, is slightly more expensive at $1.1 million. Henderson said the added state funding would allow the district to make up for that cost after two years.
(Courtesy Aberdeen School District) A diagram shows the other option at Miller to accommodate the added sixth graders with one larger classroom complex that comes with bathrooms inside it. Both this and the other option cost around $1 million.
