Janine Wagner, a kindergarten teacher at Monterey Road, urged trustees to reduce class size and increase in-class adult supervision for kindergarten and first-grade classrooms.

"Today's kindergarten students enter a full day kindergarten classroom that has 1 full time teacher, an aide that is shared between 2 kindergarten classes," Wagner told the board. "Our classes are filled with 26 students and many of these students are still learning skills such as how to hold a pencil, how to wait their turn..."

Wagner said limited adult supervision means some behaviors go unnoticed and can become entrenched: "When poor habits are able to grow, it takes a lot of time and effort to correct those. If good habits are taught and supported from the beginning, we will not need to take the time later to correct them." She asked the board to "decrease class size and increase personnel in our kindergarten and first grade classrooms" and to prioritize play-based learning over workbook-driven instruction.

Wagner invited trustees to spend a full day in a kindergarten or first-grade classroom to observe students and teachers as individuals. The superintendent responded during his report that he heard Wagner’s concerns, said he supports play-based learning and said he planned to visit her classroom at Monterey Road to see what she recommends.

No formal board action was taken on the public comment; the item was recorded during the public-comment portion of the meeting.