Parents press Caldwell-West Caldwell board for more support as Jefferson second-grade classes top 23'25 students

Parents and educators pressed the Caldwell West Caldwell Board of Education on June 17 to address large second-grade classes at Jefferson School, saying crowded classrooms have hurt both learning and student well-being.

At the public comment portion of the meeting, Abby Thomas of Knollwood Terrace said many first- and second-grade classes at Jefferson have 23'25 students and that parents had circulated a petition and a survey they believe show widespread concern. "My son's class has 25 kids, the max number per district policy, with only one teacher," Thomas said, and she asked the board to "strongly consider at the very least adding additional co teachers" or creating a third "bubble class." She reported the parents' petition and survey results, saying 97% of one respondent group expressed concern and that about 40% of respondents had turned to private tutoring.

Several other parents described the classroom effects in personal terms. Terry Pignataro, a parent and a 20-year elementary teacher in Essex County, argued that additional adult support (aides or co-teachers) makes a measurable difference in students' access to small-group instruction and early intervention. "Teachers can feel extreme differences when they have a class size of 20 versus even 22 versus 25 students," Pignataro said.

Pediatrician and parent Sandra Cabalu described a second-grade child who developed daily headaches and emotional distress tied to high noise and chaotic classroom behavior; she said the child sometimes went into the hallway unsupervised to manage symptoms and said, "We can do better than this." Laura Kavanaugh recounted a recent dyslexia diagnosis for her child and said district supports for dyslexic students appeared lacking; she also reported safety incidents in class and urged more team-taught sections so higher-need students could be spread across more adults.

The superintendent invited parents to meet, asked that they email the district and requested the survey be shared ahead of a July meeting that administration and board members said they would schedule to explore options. The presiding officer thanked parents for speaking and said the board would discuss the comments with administration, including in the executive session later that night; no formal district policy change or funding commitment was made on the record at the meeting.

Parents asked for possible remedies including adding co-teachers, classroom aides, or creating an additional class to reduce individual class sizes. District officials said they would continue discussions and follow up with parents, with a meeting in July proposed by the superintendent.