The Francis Howell School District will add 13 positions this school year and give high school department chair people an extra hour of planning time.

The Board of Education on Thursday voted 6-0 to approve the positions, which would cost $172,570 to $257,613. Member Mark Lafata was absent.

Steven Griggs, the district's chief human resources officer, said staffing cuts earlier this year placed pressure on remaining employees. The new positions would help relieve that pressure, he said.

Last February, the board agreed to cut up to 95 positions to offset an expected 2011-12 budget deficit. Griggs said the district ultimately cut 65 positions.

In August, the board added two kindergarten teaching positions and one fourth-grade teaching position because enrollment at some elementary schools was higher than anticipated.

The district's financial state is now better than was expected last February, Griggs said. This should free up funding to add some positions, he said.

The board voted to add 10 paraprofessionals, one at each of the district's 10 elementary schools. The paraprofessionals, or teachers' aides, would focus on improving third-grade reading, working with struggling students one-on-one and in small groups. The aides would start work Dec. 1. The cost would be $97,570, or $9,750 per school.

The board added three district technicians to troubleshoot hardware and software problems. Griggs said the existing technology staff is having trouble keeping up with the volume of work requests. The new technicians would start Dec. 1 and work through the end of the 2011-12 school year for a combined cost of $75,000.

Before the staffing cuts this year, high school department chair people taught four class periods during the seven-hour day. One hour was a class planning period. Two hours were academic support periods, which they used to perform assessments and data analysis, prepare for standardized tests, and other kinds of departmental planning. After the staffing cuts, department chair people lost their two support periods and began teaching six classes daily, just like other teachers.

The board on Thursday agreed to reinstate one support period per day. The department chair people would retain the class planning period and teach five classes daily.

Griggs said the plan could cost nothing, or it could cost up to $85,043, depending on how each of the three high schools decide to implement it. It would cost nothing if other teachers took on the students now taught by the department chair people. Spreading the students among other teachers would increase class sizes by one student per class, Griggs said. The more expensive alternative would require teachers to give up their class planning period and teach the classes that the chair people would drop. Adding another instructional hour to teachers' work day would cost $85,043.