The highlight of the Oct. 13 Sumner School District board meeting was the location – the shiny and new Lakeridge Middle School campus – but the board received some additional good news.

Of 15 teachers who were told they would lose their position to a reduction in force after the 2009-10 school year, 12 were recalled in some capacity this year.

That was one part of a report on staff reductions and rehires given by Deb Barlow, the district’s executive director of human resources.

“We staffed last April to match projections on enrollment and the change to six-period days,” she said. “Of 15 RIF’d teachers, 12 were recalled. Of 26 teachers on leave, 17 were rehired. We gained 3.1 positions to match an additional 121 students.

“And we had some unexpected staff reductions that opened up positions. We had six teachers resign and four take a leave of absence.”

The districtwide switch to a six-period day in middle and high schools has resulted in a need for fewer teachers, due to the lower percentage of teachers on planning period.

“If you have a four-period day, at any given moment 25 percent of the staff isn’t teaching,” district spokeswoman Ann Cook said. “So you have to hire more teachers to make up for it. A six-period day puts less teachers on planning period at a time.”

The staffing changes have not resulted in a higher student-to-teacher ratio in the classroom, but each teacher now has more students overall, Barlow said.