By EMILY BEHLMANN

ebehlmann@gctelegram.com

Jennie Barker and Pierceville/Plymell elementary schools will be home to sixth-graders next school year, following a vote Monday by the USD 457 Board of Education.

Most of the district's elementary schools stop at fourth grade, with fifth- and sixth-graders moving on to Bernadine Sitts or Charles O. Stones intermediate center.

However, fifth grade was added at the two rural elementary schools this year, with expectations that those fifth-graders would remain at Jennie Barker or Pierceville/Plymell as sixth-graders next year.

Part of the reasoning, according to Superintendent Rick Atha, is to increase the student population at the two schools, where enrollment has been declining. In addition, the move eliminates a between-school transition, which Assistant Superintendent Shelly Kiblinger said can be detrimental to students' education.

The district is considering taking the kindergarten-through-sixth-grade idea district-wide, though the board decided at a retreat on Saturday to hold off on immediate action. Kiblinger said the district wants another year to study the plan, and that if a change is made, more time is needed to get staff on board.

Also at Monday's USD 457 Board of Education meeting, the board voted 6-0 to approve the following:

n Concrete replacement to repair pot holes and other damage at the Educational Support Center, with work by Dick Construction, at a low bid of $215,580; re-roofing for areas of Gertrude Walker Elementary and Garden City High School from D.V. Douglass Roofing, at $55,260; a vertical climbing wall system for Charles O. Stones Intermediate Center from Everlast Climbing Industries, Mendota Heights, Minn., at $14,503; lumber supplies from Home Depot and UBC, at a total of $8,443,87; paint and paint supplies from J M Paint and Sherwin Williams, at a total of $9,842.14; and vinyl floor tile from J M at $37,000.

n Retirement of Sharon Jarmer, second-grade teacher at Jennie Barker Elementary School; Margaret Quint, ESL social studies teacher at Garden City High School; Ellen Roop, second-grade teacher at Edith Scheuerman Elementary School; Barbara Schul, early childhood handicapped teacher at Jennie Wilson Elementary School; Peggy Serry, ESL language arts teacher at GCHS; and Jane Smith, school counselor at Victor Ornelas Elementary School. The retirements are effective at the end of the school year.

n Resignation of Cherise Beck, special education resource teacher at Victor Ornelas Elementary School; Julie Bunker, kindergarten teacher at Gertrude Walker Elementary School; Todd Husfeldt, social studies teacher at GCHS; Jerry Lappin, chemistry teacher at GCHS; Arminda Ortiz, science teacher at GCHS; Mitzi Randall, elementary vocal music teacher and contracted substitute; and Roberta Rivera, sixth-grade teacher at Charles O. Stones Intermediate Center, all effective at the end of the school year. Also resigning are Jennifer Sperry, assistant transportation director, effective March 7; and Jackie Otero, technology lab teacher at Abe Hubert Middle School, effective March 21.

n Hire of Linda Ball as a special education paraprofessional at GCHS, Erika Castilleja as a bilingual paraprofessional at GCHS, Gene Juno as a sixth-grade communications/social studies teacher at Charles O. Stones Intermediate Center, Karen Lopez as a special education paraprofessional at GCHS, Crystal Sanchez as a special education paraprofessional at Florence Wilson Elementary School, Mary Sterling as a special education paraprofessional at Florence Wilson and Olga Cabral as a migrant paraprofessional at Jennie Wilson and Florence Wilson.

n Termination of Tammy Williams, special education paraprofessional at GCHS.

n Transfer of Mary Leon from bilingual paraprofessional to migrant paraprofessional at GCHS.