By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — The town’s elementary schools start the new academic year Tuesday with more students than education officials counted on when the 2021-22 budget was built.

The district’s elementary headcount — as of last Friday, 2,335 students across five elementary schools — is 88 students more than projected.

Although enrollment changes daily, Assistant Supt. of Schools John Bayers told the Board of Education on Monday that six additional teachers had to be hired based on the unexpectedly high enrollment.

On average, a teacher’s salary costs the district $66,881.

Bayers said officials expect some of the added costs can be made up through staff attrition and turnover.

The biggest enrollment increase was at Long Lots. As of Aug. 27, the school had an enrollment of 581 students, 40 more than anticipated. 

Long Lots saw its largest surge in kindergarten, forcing five sections. 

Close behind, Saugatuck, at 425 students, had 30 more than projected. 

Coleytown Elementary, with 446 students, had 11 more, while Greens Farms, at 436, had 10 students more.

Only Kings Highway, with 447 students, was three students under the initial projection — until Monday when three additional students showed up, Bayers said.

Even so, the way the students land grade-wise led to an additional class section at Kings Highway.

“I don’t know if this is going to be a continuing pattern,” said Bayers.

Enrollment increases at the middle and high school levels do not affect the budget as much because additional students don’t equate to needing extra teachers. However, those enrollment numbers weren’t available Monday night.

Despite the added cost caused by growing enrollment, some board members welcomed the increase in students.

“How wonderful to fill up our schools,” said board member Jeannie Smith. 

Board Vice Chair Karen Kleine wondered how schools were able to absorb the additional classes in terms of available space.

Bayers answered that involved creative reconfiguration.

After listening to the report, Robert Harrington, a parent and Republican candidate for the school board this fall, told the panel to be mindful of the big picture.

He said he is concerned the enrollment increase will cause some schools to have larger classes than others and an uneven distribution of services.

“This is not a problem that is about to go away,” Harrington said.

Scarise: ‘Ready, excited’ for new year

Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarise, meanwhile, told the board the district’s staff is excited and ready for the new school year.

Despite uncertainty surrounding the rising Delta variant of COVID-19, Scarise said there is a palpable energy in the district. (Read details of the superintendent’s plan to resume in-person classes this fall here.)

“After last year, they are so ready for the kids,” he said of the staff. “It’s hard to describe.”

This year, quarantines among those exposed to the virus will be shorter — seven days instead of 14.

All public school districts in the state, Westport included, must keep to the 180-day mandate for the academic year.

The option to learn remotely and not be marked absent is gone. 

Instead, there will be eight on-call tutors — retired teachers — who will provide remote lessons to students who are quarantined or with verified medical reasons not to attend classes in person.

So far, Scarise said the district has received very few such requests.

Scarise said the district wants classroom teachers focused on the 99 percent of students who are in school.

“We wouldn’t be doing justice to the instructional process if we [didn’t],” Scarice said. 

Suzanne LeVasseur, supervisor of health services for the school district, said the district has gotten better at responding to the virus and, as a result, officials hope to have few quarantines.

“This is the initial plan,” said Scarice, subject to reassessment if the number of COVID cases increase.