Capital School District’s board of education voted Nov. 18 to waive a Delaware law that states there may be no more than 22 students to one teacher per kindergarten through third-grade class. The code includes a clause that allows boards to waive the 22 to 1 ratio before Dec. 1 of each year.
Capital supervisor of human resources David Vaughan explained the district evaluates the ratio every year following a final student head count Oct. 30. Most districts, he said, take the waiver to accommodate classes with one or two extra students.
“Is one student going to significantly change the instructional structure of the classroom? Probably not,” Vaughan said.
He went on to stress that class size is important to the district and the administration tries to handle overages on a case-by-case basis. Vaughan reported at the board meeting that 31 classes out of 97 in kindergarten through third grade had more than 22 students in them. Most were over the limit by one or two, although some were above the limit by five or more.
In those cases, Vaughan said, they try to fix the problem by steps such as adding a teacher and splitting the class, or adding paraprofessionals, which the Delaware Code counts as half of a teacher.
Hartly Elementary School mother Melissa Patti was the only person to publicly comment against the waiver at the Nov. 18 meeting.
“Everything they do there is wonderful, and I want to insure that that is going to be able to continue,” she said. “I understand why the waiver is out there but I just want to make sure it doesn’t go any higher than 22.”
Planning for class allocations starts in February for the following year, and the district tracks enrollment through the start of the school year. Vaughan said one of the hardest grades to plan for is kindergarten.
“Kindergarten is the unknown because these kids are just showing up for the first time,” Vaughan said. “So parents come in and register and then those children don’t show up.”
That happens frequently, and many times parents wait until the last minute to register, meaning the district has to wait until the school year is underway before remedying overcrowded classes.
ON THE WEB
For view the Delaware Code online, visit http://delcode.delaware.gov/title14/c017/index.shtml
Email Sarika Jagtiani at sarika.jagtiani@doverpost.com.
