The new school year is usually a time to meet new teachers, but for a class of fourth-graders at Ponderosa Elementary, it was a time to interview candidates applying to be the group’s teacher.

As Bend-La Pine Schools students returned to class this year, nearly everyone had the opportunity to make new friends, as the district continued growing, a trend that began in 1986. Over the summer, the district estimated it would see 175 new students. While administrators emphasize the numbers often change, so far the district is on pace to surpass that mark, resulting in the need to hire three new teachers.

Ponderosa will be getting one of those teachers Monday after a week of intensive interviewing. Steve Austin, the school’s principal, said Friday that parents kept registering their students up until the final week before school.

Because the numbers grew until the last minute, Austin was left with only one day to call families letting them know some fourth-graders would have a substitute when they arrived on the first day of school. The grade could have been grouped in larger classes with full-time teachers and later split once a new teacher was hired, but Austin said that would have been “disruptive” for students and staff.

“This group of kids ended third grade with 84 students,” Austin said. “Now this year in fourth grade, it’s 101, so that’s 17 kids that were added just because of families moving into the district. We expect growth, but for one grade level to have that much is an anomaly. When a new kid came by to register, we just kept getting fourth-graders.”

Over the past week, Austin said the school narrowed an applicant pool of 100 down to three teacher candidates, each of whom the school had teach a lesson to the group of fourth-graders led by a substitute.

“They got to offer feedback, and it’s funny, because I guess some of them thought they got to pick the teacher,” Austin said. “That’s a little bit of misinformation, though we did listen to their input and I think they’ll be very pleased with who we will hire.”

Substitutes are also filling holes at High Desert Middle School and Buckingham Elementary. Bend-La Pine Superintendent Ron Wilkinson said the challenge isn’t only in anticipating the magnitude of growth, but what schools will grow and at what grade levels.

Wilkinson cited Lava Ridge Elementary, where first grade appeared to have surpassed its projected size by around 15 students, while second grade was down five students. To accommodate the growth at first grade, the school reassigned a second-grade teacher. But when school opened, second grade had grown.

“The problem is, we add kids in August, but we can also lose kids,” Wilkinson said. “Until we know for sure, we can’t commit to hiring, as we’re counting on additional revenue (generated by enrollment) to support the (teacher).”

While a good number of schools seem to be above projections, some are down, such as Cascade Middle School. When a school has fewer students than anticipated, the district can shift a teacher to a school with more students.

Wilkinson said the district tries to avoid using substitutes, but sometimes it’s the best option, and they are always “veteran subs.” The best way to avoid the problem, Wilkinson noted, is to register early.

“If everyone signs up in June, there’s no problem,” he said wryly.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160, tleeds@bendbulletin.com