Richardson ISD board approves 24 class-size waivers as district details overflow process

The Richardson ISD Board of Trustees on Sept. 18 approved 24 class-size waivers for classrooms that exceed the state-mandated 22-to-1 cap, voting 7-0 on the consent motion.

Doctor Givens (presented as "Doctor. Givens" in the record), who led the item, told trustees the waivers are an annual requirement under Texas law and reflected current enrollment patterns. "Right now, we have 24 classrooms that are over the 22 to 1, mandated cap for our classrooms," she said, adding that last year the district requested 43 waivers.

Givens and other administrators described the district's overflow process — a set of steps the district uses when a student's home campus cannot accommodate them at enrollment. She said enrollment counted on Sept. 10 was 36,448 students, and the district manages overflow by sending students to the nearest campus with capacity and by balancing allocations, staffing and classroom space.

Trustees pressed for details about how many students a given campus receives and whether moving one student into an over-cap classroom means reshuffling other students. Doctor Givens answered that receiving campuses such as RISD Academy and Bucher (transcript: Bucare/Bucherer) have room and that receiving students usually do not cause other students to be moved. "They would stay in their classrooms. It's strictly a matter of if there's room where they can go," she said.

Board members also heard that principals coordinate with teachers before a waiver is requested and that principals will notify parents of affected classrooms after the board approves the waivers. "When this waiver is approved, we are required to send home information to all the parents of those campuses in those classrooms letting them know that this is happening," Givens said.

Trustees asked for clarification on the waiver report: a single count shown for a campus and grade indicates the number of sections with one or more students above the cap, not the number of extra sections being added. For example, a "1" under first grade does not mean a new classroom was added; it means one class has one student above the cap.

The motion to approve the waivers passed unanimously. Administrators said the district reviews overflow weekly, looks to open additional sections when space and staffing permit, and uses the waiver process when no other option exists. Principals and assistant superintendents evaluate each case with an intent to minimize disruption to students and to maintain available seats for new enrollments.

Board members voted on the waiver action as part of the consent agenda; later roll-call recorded the vote on the separate waiver motion as 7-0.