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Parents urge district to avoid kindergarten–first grade combination class as staff outline enrollment and staffing constraints
Summary
Dozens of parents and several teachers urged the board not to form a combined kindergarten–first grade class at Hollywood Beach School; district staff presented enrollment trends, projected combination‑class counts and the estimated cost to eliminate projected combos.
Dozens of parents gathered at the board meeting to press the district to avoid creating a kindergarten–first grade combination class at Hollywood Beach School for the 2025–26 school year, arguing that the developmental differences between the grades require separate, age‑appropriate classrooms.
Gloria Cabrera, a parent and former combination‑class teacher, said combination classes are “doable with a lot of help” but warned they create stresses and longer‑term consequences for children. “Our goal is to be proactive to fit in work and effort to prevent the combination class rather than putting that effort into making it,” Cabrera said.
Other parents provided classroom examples and cited research they said shows split‑grade classes can…
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