Public commenters urge broader teaching of Black history and propose reduced class sizes at lowest‑performing elementary schools

Two public commenters spoke during the Feb. 18, 2025 petition and communications portion of the Rockford Public Schools Board of Education meeting, addressing Black History Month and elementary class size policies.

John Tack Bradley opened public comments by urging year‑round attention to Black history, describing a recent field trip to Freeport and saying Black history is "365 days a year," not limited to February. Bradley criticized federal policy proposals he said would reduce funding for education and social programs and urged the community to prioritize local programs if federal funds are withheld. Bradley also asked the district to consider transporting African American students to community cultural events when possible.

The second speaker, identified in the meeting as Anne Rundle, repeated a class‑size presentation she had given in November and asked the board to consider a policy change for elementary schools with low ELA performance. Rundle said she analyzed recent RPS academic data and found that the district's lowest‑performing schools have larger class sizes. She recommended a policy whereby any elementary school scoring below 10% of students meeting the standard on the state English language arts assessment would set class sizes at 20 students or fewer to allow more individualized help. Rundle acknowledged mixed research findings on class size and academic outcomes but cited an education literature review she summarized that argued smaller elementary classes can improve outcomes and aid teacher recruitment and retention. She told the board she had provided a handout with her data to the district.

Ending: The board did not respond during public comment but indicated staff would follow up by contacting speakers when appropriate; no formal board action on the class‑size recommendation was taken at the meeting.