Most teaching vacancies have been filled.
CHICOPEE – Bus schedules have been set, new staff has been hired, and school buildings are mostly cleaned and ready for the start of school.
Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. announced that the first day of school will be on Sept. 3 for children in grades one through nine. Since freshmen are given one day of orientation by themselves, students in grades 10 through 12 will begin one day later on Sept. 4.
Kindergartens and pre-schoolers will begin classes a week later on Sept. 9, as is tradition, Rege told the School Committee.
Teachers will report on Aug. 27 and have three days of training before the start of school.
Rege said nearly all the teaching slots that were vacated mostly by retirements have been filled and expected all staff to the hired before the first day of school.
“We started very early. I think we have a fine staff coming on board,” he said.
Many certified teachers are interested in applying for jobs in Chicopee since the budget has mostly been stable and there have been no layoffs in several years, so new teachers are generally confident they will not lose their jobs quickly, committee member David G. Barsalou said.
“The fact we are able to hire and retain classroom teachers and not lay them off is the most important thing,” he said.
Member Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello asked if there are any problems with large class sizes expected in the upcoming year. In past years, the School Committee has occasionally had to add one or two classroom teachers after the start of the school year because of a surge of students in a particular grade at one or more schools.
Rege said so far there are no major problems expected with class sizes being too large, with the exception of kindergarten classes.
“Kindergarten is the one unknown because sometimes you get late move-ins,” he said. “We have a few hot spots, but we are working on a contingency plan.”
Last year the School Department transferred some kindergarten children to schools outside their neighborhood incases where enrollment was too high at one school and lower at another.