Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney shared details about the district’s enrollment spike on Tuesday.
The Harrisburg School District is losing teachers and enrolling hundreds of new pupils, but administrators deny any problems accommodating a growing population of under-resourced students.
Since Sept. 25, the school district has enrolled 193 students who were displaced from Puerto Rico, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands by Hurricane Maria. Of those students, 113 qualify for ESL programs and 120 are considered homeless.
The new students represent a 3 percent increase to the district’s student population, which was approximately 6,400 in 2015, according to the district website.
The rush of enrollments came as the district struggled to retain teaching staff in the start of the school year. By the end of November, 45 teachers had resigned from the district, according to the Harrisburg Educational Association.
Union reps claimed that the attrition was compounded by a rising number of disruptive and violent students, who teachers say have mental health needs they cannot meet with standard training. Teachers who appeared before the school board on Nov. 20 asked the district for more resources to help troubled students.
District Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney agreed at that meeting to the formation of a task force to address violence in schools. She could not comment on the status of the task force on Tuesday, but said the district was doing all it could to accommodate children after the “devastating event” of Hurricane Maria.
A coalition of administrators, teachers and social workers appeared with Knight-Burney in a press conference at the district’s Administration Building on Tuesday. They said that the district is working to give each child an uninterrupted education.
Saundra James-Goodrum, a social worker for homeless students, said that new students have received donated hats, gloves, uniforms and school supplies, as well as referrals for mental health and medical services.
“The services they get are no different from other students in the district,” said Monica Chisolm, and ESL social worker.
The new student population has put particular strain on the district’s ESL resources. ESL Supervisor Kathy Ames said that the district began the year with 50 students and two teachers in its ESL program and has hired four long-term substitutes to accommodate the 113 new ESL students.
Ames said that the cost of educating an ESL student is the same as the district’s normal spending-per-pupil, which was $16,709 in 2011. The district does not receive additional state funding to accommodate the new students.
Pennsylvania school districts are required by the McKinney-Veto act to enroll homeless students, including those who move into the district after being displaced from their homes.
In remarks after the meeting, Knight-Burney said that the district is committed to providing a safe environment for displaced students. She said the district is prepared to hire more ESL instructors based on need among staff and students.
Knight-Burney also said that the district is working to replace teachers who have resigned from the district, including those who left after altercations with violent students.
“We constantly post on the website and encourage applicants to apply,” Knight-Burney said.
Since HEA representatives are responsible for organizing the task force, Knight-Burney declined to comment on its objectives or timeline for achieving them. She said that the district is receptive to teacher demands and has planned a lecture about the neurological effects of trauma in January.
