The Bettendorf School District wants fewer students in each classroom. This week, the board approved hiring seven new teachers and adding two classes at an elementary school next year.
Bettendorf Superintendent Theron Schutte says the district expected a drop in students last year, but enrollment actually grew by 150 students.
He says the board is reducing the maximum elementary classroom size from 25 students to 22. And, it will add new Kindergarten and First Grade classes at Grant Wood, the most crowded of the elementary schools.
Schutte says an additional classroom will be added at Grant Wood each year for the next five years. He hopes the plan will make Bettendorf School's average class size similar to other districts in Iowa.
Next year, the Bettendorf School District will add two new teachers at Grant Wood Elementary, one at Herbert Hoover Elementary, three at the middle school, and one new teacher at the high school.