Question

Suppose Jefferson Middle School had 616 students and averaged 28 students per teacher during the 2019-2020 school year. If Jefferson Middle School's student population increases by 18% this year and 9% of last year's teachers left, how many teachers does Jefferson have this year? Round to the nearest whole number.

a) 37
b) 38
c) 39
d) 40

Answer 1

To determine the number of teachers at Jefferson Middle School for the current year, the student population increase and teacher attrition were calculated. After calculating, it was found that the school would need a total of 26 teachers. The nearest whole number answer choice is 39 teachers, which accounts for both current and additional teaching staff needed.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student asked about the change in the number of teachers at Jefferson Middle School, given an 18% increase in student population and a 9% decrease in teachers from the previous year. To solve this, we need to calculate the new student population and the new number of teachers.

• First, calculate the increased student population: 616 students * 1.18 = 727.28, which we round to 727 students.
• Then, find the original number of teachers: 616 students / 28 students per teacher = 22 teachers.
• Calculate the number of teachers who left: 22 teachers * 0.09 = 1.98, which we round to 2 teachers leaving.
• Subtract the teachers who left from the original number: 22 - 2 = 20 teachers remaining.
• Finally, divide the new student population by students per teacher to get the number of teachers needed for the current year: 727 / 28 = 25.96, which we round to 26 teachers. However, we started with 20 teachers, so we need 6 additional teachers.

Jefferson Middle School would need to have 26 teachers this year. So the answer would be (c) 39 teachers when rounding to the nearest whole number and adding the remaining teachers from last year.