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Uploaded: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 8:45 AM

K-3 class sizes in Palo Alto will rise to 21 or 22
State penalties for having early-grade classes of more than 21 students have declined, superintendent says

by Chris Kenrick
Palo Alto Online Staff

Posted by Leon, a resident of the Fairmeadow neighborhood, on May 28, 2009 at 7:53 am

Does anybody know how much money the school district will lose by increasing classes past 20? Does the state give money per pupil to schools that keep classes small?

Posted by Mom, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on May 28, 2009 at 8:21 am

This will make some North Palo Altans happy, as they won't be overflowed to Barron Park.

Any former teachers have an opinion on the increase from 20-24 students? It seems minimal to me, being that some classes out of CA are up to 35 for one teacher. But I am not a teacher. I suppose 4 wild ones added to a class can change the whole balance.

Posted by chris, a resident of the University South neighborhood, on May 28, 2009 at 2:24 pm

Leon,

in case you haven't noticed, the state is out of money for non-essentials.

Posted by chris, a resident of the University South neighborhood, on May 28, 2009 at 2:29 pm

in a well-off city such as Palo Alto, a class size of 24 should not be a problem. In a low-income area, students may need a lot of individual attention to develop their learning skills and attitudes, but in Palo Alto, most students are highly motivated as a result of their home environment.

Posted by OhlonePar, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on May 28, 2009 at 3:19 pm

Yeah, it's not optimum, but it's doable and better than some of the alternatives like making some families drive cross town as a result.

Posted by Just musing, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on May 30, 2009 at 6:58 am

The State does, indeed, pay money to district that keep their k-3s at less than a certain number. I seem to remember it was a fairly significant amount, and not worth crossing the line of something like an average of 21.5 per class, unless we cross the line by a lot to make it worth the lost income.

Taking a guess, but maybe there is a way to keep then number at JUST the right level, so the money isn't lost. And maybe that is why class sizes will rise 'slightly" from 20.

Posted by palo alto mom, a resident of the Embarcadero Oaks/Leland neighborhood, on May 30, 2009 at 11:30 am

I think the K-3 small class funding is now based on averages across the district, spread over a number of years, not a strict 20 kids per class this year or you lose funding.

Posted by OhlonePar, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on May 30, 2009 at 11:58 am

Will the state keep the program though given the budget disaster? It seems like that would be an easy one to let go.

Posted by Michele Dauber, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Jun 12, 2009 at 8:07 pm

The class sizes should be kept small at Barron Park, which is the only school in PAUSD with significant numbers of low income minority children. It goes without saying that small class sizes and low teacher/student ratio is one of the most effective ways that schools can increase the success of those children -- all children for that matter. This is just another sign that PAUSD couldn't care less about anything other than Gunn and Paly SAT scores. So long as those stay high, nothing else matters and certainly not improving outcomes for poor kids.

Posted by well but, a resident of the Evergreen Park neighborhood, on Jun 13, 2009 at 5:20 am

But Michelle -- doesn't Barron Park have tens of thousands of dollars to intervene for those kids? Why should Barron Park have small classes AND tens of thousands of dollars, when they haven't even been able to do what they need to do for at risk kids when the class sizes were 20 and lower?