Parents and teachers press SVUSD board to lower elementary class sizes

Parents, teachers and other community members urged the Saddleback Valley Unified School District board on May 1 to make smaller elementary class sizes a priority, saying large classes are harming instruction, behavior supports and equity.

"Smaller class sizes for equitable learning is my priority, and what is yours?" said Shirley Lin, a parent, during the public comment period, describing class sizes of 32 in lower grades and up to 36 in upper grades and arguing the larger rooms leave "individualized attention" impossible.

Brenda Haney, an office manager and district employee, described a shortage of behavior supports on campuses, saying offices and front-line staff are often the only backup available when students become disruptive: "We are not trained in behavior, do not have certificates, and are not receiving a stipend for it." She urged hiring full-time instructional assistants assigned to a single school to respond to behavioral incidents without pulling other teachers from instruction.

Several classroom teachers and parents described combos (multi-grade classrooms) coupled with large enrollments as particularly damaging. Teacher Devin Tescher said combos "are not best practice" and urged a contract provision capping combos to one per grade level. Parent Caroline Spindler said she found kindergarten and fifth-grade ratios of 31 and 36 students in her children's classrooms "unacceptable." Another parent, Eric Jensen, reported that his fourth grader is in a classroom with "up to 41 students for certain subjects" and urged the board to form a task force to develop a plan to reduce the district average to under 30 by the 2025–26 school year.

Speakers cited district data and classroom diagnostics to say smaller classes yielded measurable gains: Nicole Sparks pointed to kindergarten classes of 21–24 students where assessment gains persisted after COVID-relief funding supported lower ratios.

Board members and administration listened and committed to returning the calendar and related items for further information and discussion at the first June meeting. The transcript records public pleas for policy or bargaining changes to establish site-average caps and limits on combo classes, and for the board to prioritize funding and bargaining proposals that could reduce site averages including special education counts in general education calculations.

The board did not take formal action on class-size policy during the May meeting; speakers asked the board to consider contract language, budget prioritization and a task force with state-level concurrence to implement a permanent reduction in class size.