Class size rules frustrate parents, districts
As school districts across Florida continue grappling with the state's class size restrictions, some are questioning whether the law is being misused.
A father is suing the Palm Beach County School District for putting too many children in his son's kindergarten class at Boca Raton's Addison Mizner Elementary School. A state senator is asking whether districts are misapplying a loophole meant to exempt innovative schools by saying all of their schools meet that qualification.
In Broward County, meanwhile, school board members are looking at restricting the number of late-enrolling students who an be assigned to a teacher after October.
That's because state policy allows each core class at the high school level to have up to 30 students, above the normal cap of 25. What concerned board members was a teacher with seven class periods could end up getting 35 new students.
"It's almost like taking on an additional class by just adding additional students to each class," chairwoman Donna Korn said at the board's meeting Tuesday.
The school district has historically struggled to meet the class-size restrictions and in 2011 was hit with initial penalties of $8.4 million. Only half of the classrooms complied with the law at that time.
Administrator Leslie Brown told board members no penalty is expected this year and that 91 percent of classes are currently within the state's parameters.
Many districts have faced similar challenges since Florida's class size law was enacted in 2002, after voters approved a constitutional amendment. It limits classes to 18 students in pre-kindergarten through third grade; 22 in fourth through eighth grade and 25 in ninth through twelfth grade.
To parent Paul Kuhn, who filed his lawsuit against the Palm Beach County School District last month, those restrictions help create a better learning environment for students.
"Even 18 kids is a lot of kids to control and to get one-on-one time and give attention to," he said. "The more kids you have, the less attention each kid gets."
His suit accuses the district of misapplying a state policy that gives class-size flexibility to schools of choice --charter schools and others that offer specialized education programs. Using that policy, the school placed 21 students in his son's class.
"They're not trying to comply," Kuhn said. "They're trying to find ways around compliance with the constitutional amendment."
Palm Beach shool district spokeswoman Kathy Burstein said administrators are responding to the suit and will continue defending the matter.
Senate Education Committee Chair John Legg is taking issue with the same provision. In a letter sent Monday to Education Commissioner Pam Stewart, he wrote that some districts have "expanded the intent of state policy by naming themselves a 'district of choice' or a As school districts across Florida continue grappling with the state's class size restrictions, some are questioning whether the law is being misused. - Sun Sentinel:
