In Palm Beach County, some classes without size limits are packed - Sun-Sentinel
Boca Raton—
In his 40th and final year as a teacher, Richard Goldsmith says he's never seen so many pupils packed into one classroom.
It's Advanced Placement European History at Boca Raton High School, and the 46 juniors and seniors are taught by Goldsmith and co-teacher Katie Klein. They're in a long room designed as a preschool laboratory, with a kitchen in the rear.
"I don't care about the number of kids, but I like a smaller room that's more self-contained," said Goldsmith, after a recent lecture about famed Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal.
Palm Beach County school administrators, teachers, parents and students are discovering, in some cases the hard way, how education is different this year with the state's revised class-size restrictions.
There are strict caps for each designated "core" academic class, and no limits on electives and other subjects. The school district must hit the required targets for certain language arts, math, science and social studies classes by an Oct. 14 enrollment count deadline.
"I voted for reduced class sizes," said Yavette Peace, a mother of four, including two at Boca Raton High taking higher-level classes with more than 30 students. "I know it is easier to teach, get the attention and keep the attention of students when there are less of them."
But Peace offers praise for local school leaders who "are trying to make it work" despite budget constraints and changing directives from Tallahassee.
Last year, the district was hit with a $4 million penalty for failing badly to meet class-size restrictions, imposed at the classroom level for the first time.
Previously, the limits — no more than 18 students in pre-kindergarten to third-grade classes, 22 in fourth through eighth grades, and 25 in ninth through 12th grades — were based on more easily attainable district and school-wide averages.
But now the district is set on achieving a "monumental goal" of 100 percent compliance, said Chief Financial Officer Michael Burke.
"We're spending significant money," he said. The School Board authorized $25 million for the effort, after determining that $201 million in class-size funds from the state was insufficient to meet the caps.
Most of the extra money covers salaries for more than 300 additional teachers, most in elementary schools, and compensation for secondary school educators teaching about 1,370 additional periods during the school day.
At Loggers Run Middle School west of Boca Raton, Principal Fran Giblin said 18 out of 58 teachers are teaching an extra period.
"This has helped us stay in compliance; however, we have to constantly monitor all classes to be sure we stay in compliance and our teachers don't burn out," he said. "Many of our academic classes are at the maximum."
Addison Mizner Elementary School in Boca Raton welcomed four more teachers when classes started on Aug. 22 but lacked space for them. A shipment of portable classrooms didn't arrive until last week and aren't yet ready for use.
"I had to improvise," said Principal Donna Binninger, whose campus has 950 students, 18 more than projected this summer. "The music room was divided in half so two classes could be housed there, a former textbook room is being used as a classroom, and the teachers' lounge was shut down and turned into a kindergarten classroom."
District administrators are continuing to add classes and make adjustments, in response to school populations.
"Things are still being smoothed out and classes that are very large may be split if a school is eligible for additional teachers," Chief Academic Officer Judith Klinek said.
It would have been even more difficult and financially draining without action by state legislators this year. They dramatically reduced the number of classes that must meet the 2002 class-size law's original caps.
Although elementary and most middle-school courses remain capped, the measure left more than 500 classes unrestricted.
26 Sep, 2011--
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