The Jamestown School Board during its Jan. 14 meeting at Persell Middle School.
JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board held its monthly meeting Tuesday at Persell Middle School and members approved adding new staff members to accommodate the upcoming arrival of students into the school system who are currently attending the Gustavus Adolphus Learning Center (GALC).
Late last year Lutheran Jamestown, which operates the GALC, announced it was closing the facility. As a result the students at the facility would have to go to school elsewhere.
There are currently 16 students at the GALC who are Jamestown residents and those students will likely be brought into the Jamestown school district in late February. Those students will be enrolled in special education classes at the Jamestown Tech Academy and the school board on Tuesday approved a resolution to hire two Special Education Teachers, four Paraprofessionals, one Principal; and one Psychologist in advance of the students’ arrival.
While the arrival of the new students will result in additional staffing, the district will actually save $4600 per student because the district will no longer have to pay Lutheran for taking in those students. According to district COO Lisa Almasi, the district was paying $36,664 per student to have them instructed at the GALC. With the students coming to Jamestown Public Schools, the new cost per each of the 16 students will be $32,083.
According to district officials, the GALC students will be taught at the Tech Academy with an eventual goal of bringing them into regular classes at the high school.
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