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Overcast Bursting at the seams?
District 30 board member says some classes are too big
Class sizes are out of control in some District 30 classrooms, specifically at Shaw Avenue School, Board of Education trustee Maria Fletcher said at Monday night’s meeting. She said she was surprised that Shaw Avenue parents weren’t outraged by the numbers.
“This is a pattern,” Fletcher said. “As a board member, I’m disappointed. I’m embarrassed and I want something done.”
Fletcher was particularly upset with the first-grade class sizes at Shaw Avenue, which has two classes of 25 students and one of 23 students. There are only three first-grade sections this year instead of four because that fourth teacher was shifted to cover a large kindergarten enrollment at the school.
Forest Road’s two first-grade classes average 15 students each and Clear Stream Avenue averages 18 students. Fletcher said the education opportunities for students were inequitable between the schools because of the vast differences in class size.
Superintendent Dr. Elaine Kanas said she already had a proposed solution, which would be to add an aide to split between the two 25-student classes at Shaw Avenue. After an executive session, the board decided to create the position.
She noted that the 23-student class is an inclusion class and has two teachers.
Kanas said there was a late surge in enrollment at Shaw Avenue, which continued past the first few days of school. More than 70 new students have enrolled in recent weeks. Overall the school’s population has increased by more than 40 students from this time last year. Nearby Clear Stream Avenue School, however, is down about 10 students, Kanas said.
Shaw Avenue Principal Angela Hudson has been giving the parents of new first-graders the option to place their children in classes at one of the other two schools. A few have taken advantage of that opportunity, but many haven’t because they also have an older child at Shaw Avenue, and do not want to split their children between two elementary schools.
“The trend of new entrants was a surprise to all of us,” Hudson said.
