Student-Staff Ratios at Shorewood Schools and How They Compare

One thing that always comes up when districts talk about laying off staff, is the student-staff ratio. In general, according to the non-profit group Class Size Matters, a lower ratio is considered beneficial, providing for smaller class sizes and giving students more opportunity for attention from teachers. 

There were 870,470 students enrolled in Wisconsin public and charter schools in the 2011-12 school year. Those schools employed 3,497 administrators, 31,532 aides and support staff, and 65,446 licensed staff members. (All employment numbers are full-time equivalents; meaning two half-time staff members would count as one.)

Average staff-student ratios are as follows: 249 students per administrator, 28 students per aide/support staff, and 13 students per licensed staff member. 

The lowest student-licensed staff ratio in the state is in the tiny Norris School District, which has a ratio of 3.61 for its 52 students and 14.4 licensed staff FTEs. The highest student-licensed staff ratio at a public school district is 18, for the Paris J1 district in Kenosha County, which has 252 students and 13.85 licensed staff FTEs. There were two Milwaukee charter schools with ratios of 19 students to licensed staff FTE.

Here's how local districts stack up, according to information from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. All numbers are for the 2011-12 school year.

Shorewood's student-staff ratio is slightly higher than the state average of 13, with a ratio of 14 students per licensed staff member. Whitefish Bay also has a 14:1 student-staff ratio. When combining Nicolet High School, Fox Point-Bayside, Maple Dale-Indian Hills and Glendale-River Hills, Patch calculated a ratio of 13 students per staff member.

When compared to the other two neighboring districts, Shorewood is middle of the pack in terms of student-support staff ratio. Shorewood has a support staff for every 26 students, same as Nicolet. Whitefish Bay has the highest student-support staff ratio among the neighboring districts at 38. The average state ratio for support staff is 28:1.

When comparing the ratio of students to administrators, Shorewood is above neighboring schools with 302 students per administrator. Whitefish Bay comes in at 291, and Nicolet has the lowest number, with 199, compared to 249 for the state.