The new teachers are part of President Clinton’s request to reduce class sizes in first through third grades across the nation.

Although neither system has received official notification, they have received some preliminary numbers.

Rowan-Salisbury will receive around $350,000. Kannapolis will receive $79,000.

New teachers cost about $35,000 including benefits.

In Rowan-Salisbury, standard class size for kindergarten through second grade is 23 to 1. But student numbers can increase by three. By third grade, classes grow to 26, and those can increase by three students also.

In Kannapolis’ kindergarten through third grade, classes reached 22.42 students. Next year, officials expect that number to drop to 21.74.

“We haven’t seen any numbers yet,” said Rowan-Salisbury’s Assistant Superintendent Dr. Danny Thomas. “I keep waiting for something specific.”

That means Thomas hasn’t advertised for the new positions, and he won’t until he receives official notification.

“We’re not going out to hire somebody until we know how much money we’ll get,” Thomas said.

Whenever the systems received their notification, both are grateful for the money.

“Anything we can do to reduce class size is not only helpful to the teachers but to the students,” said Kannapolis’ Community Relations Coordinator Ellen Boyd. “So, we’re grateful for this money that will help us to improve achievement for our students.”

Congress passed Clinton’s budget request in the spring. The money is part of Clinton’s request to continue the efforts to hire 100,000 new teaches over six years.