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Teacher urges smaller classes; board sends class-size policy to committee after extended discussion
Summary
A Sunnyside third-grade teacher asked the Burlington Community School District board to keep three fourth-grade sections at Sunnyside and add a third-grade section; the board held a detailed class-size discussion and agreed to refer policy language to the May 8 policy committee for review.
A third-grade teacher at Sunnyside Elementary told the Burlington Community School District board on April 27 that his classroom this year reached 25 students and urged the district to keep three fourth-grade sections at Sunnyside and to add a third-grade section districtwide.
"This is the biggest class I have had in the last 26 years… this is the most challenging, demanding, exhausting, frustrating, and emotional stress that I've had in my teaching career due to the large size," Eric Glasgow said during the public-comment period.
Administrators and board members then spent more than an hour examining recommended class-size targets, staffing practices and how special-education placements factor into classroom counts. Administration described internal "recommended max" planning numbers (examples cited during the meeting: kindergarten staffing targets around 22; first/second grade staffing around 21 in spring planning; recommended max of 24 for third/fourth grade) and explained how spring staffing, transiency and special-education placements affect the way students are counted for staffing purposes.
Board members discussed alternatives including adding licensed teachers, assigning more paraprofessionals/associates to specific classrooms and using conditional staffing formulas (additional para hours tied to over-cap enrollment). Several board members expressed safety and supervision concerns for fifth- and sixth-graders walking longer distances under the transportation maps discussed earlier in the meeting.
Rather than change board policy at the meeting, the board agreed to send class-size policy and related definitions to the May 8 policy committee to: 1) clarify how students with IEPs are counted in class-size totals, 2) review recommended maximums and staffing formulas, and 3) consider whether directed associate/para staffing can be used when classrooms exceed planning targets. Administration said it will bring staffing impacts and cost estimates to the committee.
What’s next: the policy committee will review the district policy on class size May 8 and report back to the full board with recommended language and any budgetary implications.
