Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Class Size Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents urge Ann Arbor Public Schools to add teachers at Burns Park after K–3 classes exceed targets
Summary
Multiple Burns Park parents told the board kindergarten and early-grade classrooms are routinely above AAPS targets, describing classrooms of 25 and requesting two additional FTEs for next school year to bring class sizes closer to targets.
Parents from Burns Park Elementary delivered repeated, specific appeals to the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board on Wednesday, saying the school is chronically understaffed and asking the district to allocate two additional full-time equivalent classroom teachers.
Multiple speakers described kindergarten and early elementary classrooms well above AAPS’ stated targets — the district’s K–3 target class sizes cited in public comment are 20 students for kindergarten, 22 for first and second grade, and 24 for third grade. “In FEP, we have 27 students in some kindergarten classes,” one parent said, and others described kindergarten sections scaled down from four to three, producing classes of 26–28 students.
Parents and staff described knock-on effects: promised teacher assistants arriving late or not at all, reduced access to district Chromebooks and literacy supports, delayed IEP services, and social workers frequently pulled from planned work to cover classrooms. “It’s simply not possible to support the needs of all students with such large class sizes,” said Cassie Romelt, a Burns Park parent.
Superintendent Janice Parks responded that the district is aware of class-size pressures, that staffing targets and maximums are anchored in the collective bargaining agreement and that staffing is a fluid process that continues into the fall as enrollment settles. Trustees heard requests from multiple parents to “please allocate 2 more FTE classroom teachers to Burns Park Elementary for the coming school year.”
Board members acknowledged the concerns and later discussed budget and staffing issues in conjunction with other agenda items. The board did not adopt an immediate staffing allocation at the meeting; Parks said staffing decisions continue as enrollment and FTE allocations are finalized.
Next steps: parents asked the board to review enrollment comparisons across elementary schools and to prioritize Burns Park in budget allocations; the district said it will continue monitoring staffing and enrollment through the summer and fall.
