Students at the Lenape Meadows and Joyce Kilmer schools will meet new teachers next year. The Mahwah Board of Education approved the creation of seven new teaching positions at the schools at its last meeting.

During the upcoming 2012-13 school year, the district will hire two new first grade teachers, one third grade and two special education teachers at Lenape Meadows. JK will see a new fifth grade teacher, new special education teacher, and the promotion of one current part time position in the special education department to full time.

Earlier this year, the board approved a budget for the school year that allowed for 9.5 new positions to be added to the district’s roster. “At this point, we’ve got the approval of 7.5 new positions, so we’re getting there,” District Business Administrator Ed Deptula said at last Wednesday’s meeting.

When approving the budget, the board said specific positions would only be added after need in the district was assessed. Enrollment numbers, it said, continue to be analyzed so that approved positions can be placed where need is greatest.

Earlier this year, the board suggested creating new positions is part of a plan to combat falling state test scores at several district schools, including Lenape and JK.

The board said the hires it decided on so far are in response to a growing special education population in the district, and higher enrollment numbers in specific grade levels. Earlier this year, groups of parents petitioned the board for more classes at Lenape to combat growing class sizes.

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