CLYMER — Smaller elementary class sizes were one of the discussion points during Clymer Central School’s March Board of Education meeting.

Superintendent Beth Olson said there will not be many changes to staffing as it comes time to approve next year’s budget, but there might be a need to rearrange due to the smaller class sizes.

“If we did some shuffling or rearranging or reorganizing, however we want to look at it, we would just be putting people in places that would still have an impact on kids,” Olson said.

Olson gave an example of deleting one of the two third grade sections, saying that the second classroom and teacher would then be used for “additional interventions.”

“We’re still providing small group responses to intervention and specialized instruction in order to close any additional gaps,” she said. “We believe that we’re still going to be able to do what we need to do to provide the offerings that we need to do without making any big changes in staffing.”

All elementary grades will be going down to one section, with the exception of a “transitional” kindergarten. There will be a group of kindergarten students who will be put into a smaller classroom for a focus on additional services, for the purpose of trying to prevent the students ending up in the special education track.

The largest class in kindergarten through fifth grade is 21 students.

Olson also discussed in her report an increase in the number of kids being registered for pre-K, along with an update on the school’s capital project. The school has decided not to accept the new front steps as they are and are working toward a resolution with the company that provided the steps.

In other news:

¯ a new school bus is expected during the first week of April.

¯ there was a discussion regarding whether the board would allow seniors to pose with hunting rifles in their senior pictures for the yearbook, due to a potential concern with the political nature of it. Olson reported no community concerns have been sent to her. The board also had no concerns.

¯ a discussion was held on the 2023-24 budget, which was then approved. Action items for the evening included approval of staff and coaches. This included Dylan Davis as the 2023 modified baseball coach. A question was raised regarding payroll for him, as Davis is not an employee of Clymer Central School.

“He is currently doing student teaching at Panama (Central School),” Olson said. “Chris Wakefield was who we had appointed, and he can’t do it. Something’s come up and changed so that he can’t do it. (Davis) who is PE certified and has all the credentials is willing to do it.”

Olson added that payroll will not be an issue, and he was at the top of the list due to being certified. Davis and all other action items were approved, and the meeting closed for executive session.