WUHS reduces course sections for 2021-22
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Waterford Union High School officials might be in the final stretch of winding down an unprecedented 2020-21 school year, but attention toward early-stage planning for the fall is dually underway.
Administrators and the WUHS School Board on March 29 had a preliminary discussion of course selections in grades 9 to 12 for the upcoming 2021-22 school year.
According to a draft document, WUHS Principal Dan Foster said plans are in motion to create 638 sections within the 16 subject areas in the upcoming school year — a figure that represents a 21-section decrease from 659 total sections offered throughout the duration of this school year.
Full-time equivalency staffing also is expected to decrease by 0.6 positions, from 68.7 FTEs this school year to 68.1 FTEs in the year ahead.
Foster said no staff cuts are part of the planning process; rather, he said, the reduction would be achieved through attrition as teachers retire and resign from the district. A few other adjustments, he said, could be made, based on the district’s needs in the upcoming year.
“We’re looking at some of those nuances right now,” Foster said.
During the preliminary discussion, Foster said a goal in the upcoming school year is to reduce some of the course section overloads teachers have been shouldering in more recent years.
“We’re still working through this process,” Foster said.
This school year, the largest number of sections are in many of the traditional core subject areas. Math, for example, has a total of 102 sections, while science and English each of 99 sections.
On the other end of the spectrum, sections in some of the more specialized subject areas are at or near single-digit figures. Agriculture sciences has 10 sections, for example, while drivers education has six sections.
Other business
In other recent business, the WUHS School Board:
- Approved music teacher and band director Michael Nelson’s retirement request, which takes effect at the close of the current school year. Nelson’s career in education spans 34 years, and he has been in WUHS’ employ for 21 years.
“I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to teach at an excellent school, work with amazing colleagues and students while being able to watch all four of my own kids flourish and succeed here,” Nelson wrote in his retirement letter.
He added, “I am proud of what we have accomplished in the band program and look forward to seeing the WUHS band program continue to grow under the School Board and administration’s continued support.”
- Heard a report from Superintendent Luke Francois on a new WUHS mission statement, which is to replace one created about 20 years ago.
Francois said the process of drafting a new mission statement coincides with broad and local views of the modern education environment. The intent, Francois said, is to prepare students for post-graduation, either in the form of college or career pathways, and help instill life skills.
During this week’s discussion, Francois said one word that will be included in the new mission statement is “inspires” and said the goal at the high school is to help students find their calling.
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