Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

State fails to fund schools to meet classroom-size limits

Most Nevada school districts have more primary students per classroom than allowed by law because the Legislature hasn't given the schools enough money to reduce class sizes.

The crunch has caused schools to juggle classroom space and teaching schedules to try to limit class size, and it has caused a paperwork headache at the state Education Department as school districts have to apply for waivers to exceed the legal limit.

The law requires classes from kindergarten through third grade to have no more than 15 students for each teacher, but since the law passed in 1989, the Legislature has never given schools enough money to comply.

"We are perpetuating a state of denial," Nevada Board of Education President Gary Waters said. "It's an absolute shame that we have to go through this waiver process every year. We say class size reduction is important, but then the waivers negate all of that."

This year 13 of the state's 17 school districts have asked for waivers. The 2003 Legislature passed a budget that provided $108 million to fund schools for a 16-to-1 ratio in first and second grade and 19-to-1 in third grade.

The law does not address grades above third, but Clark County officials said last year there was an average 30-to-1 ratio in grades from the fourth through middle school.

The law does not fund kindergarten class-size reduction but pays for an additional 23 1/2 kindergarten teaching positions statewide. The Clark County School District has 410 kindergarten teachers serving 20,000 students.

State education officials say they will ask lawmakers to increase Nevada's class size limits to match the ratio actually funded by the Legislature to solve at least the paperwork problem.

For 15 years, most of the state's 17 school districts have gotten waivers from the Nevada Education Department to have class sizes larger than the law's requirements.

"It's an annual parade," said Keith Rheault, acting superintendent of public instruction. "We can't say no to the waivers because we understand the constraints the districts are facing. If the ratio were changed to 16 to 1, at least it would consistent with the funding levels."

Even if the law were changed the Clark County School District would still need to seek waivers for this year. The average kindergarten class has 24.4 students with first and second grades at 16.5 students. At the third grade level there were 19.9 students.

Because of difficulty in finding qualified teachers, rural school districts are allowed to adjust class sizes to 22 students for every teacher in grades one through five. The statute was changed after the Elko County School District sought a waiver to switch to the 22 to 1 ratio and then reported improved test scores and overall student achievement.

Attempts by some lawmakers and educators to extend that provision to Clark and Washoe counties have been unsuccessful.

"We've tried session after session to bring some flexibility to the process instead of a fixed regimen," said state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas. "We have a ratio that schools (in Clark County) cannot comply with because of the growth down here. Why would you put something in the law when you know the goal is unreachable?"

Debbie Cahill, director of government relations for the Nevada State Education Association, agreed it didn't make much sense for the statute and the actual funded ratio to be inconsistent. But increasing the ratio -- even by a single student -- could be risky, Cahill said.

"We've made some strides in getting class sizes down and it could lead to slippage if that ratio just keeps getting pushed back," Cahill said.

The NSEA, which represents the majority of the state's teachers, opposed legislation during the last session that would have increased the ratio to 22 to 1 for grades one through six in all districts.

"We don't want to see the younger grades going beyond 15 to 1," Cahill said. "(The proposed legislation) would have taken us in the wrong direction."

Research has been varied as to the effects of class size reduction plans, said Kathy Christie, vice president of the Education Commission of the States Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research agency.

In some studies specialized programs and highly trained teachers have shown as many gains as simply reducing the number of students in each classroom, Christie said.

"It's a very expensive piece of reform so the real question is whether the gains are worth the cost," Christie said. "What we do know is that it's not enough to just have smaller classes, the quality of the instruction is as important a factor."

As part of the state's class size reduction program each Nevada school district must prepare a report detailing the impact of smaller classes on student achievement for the 2005 legislative session.

Rheault said the law hasn't kept up with the state's explosive population growth.

"When the statute was first written no one expected us to grow at 5 to 6 percent for the next 15 years," Rheault said. "When you look at the national averages, our younger grades are doing well in terms of size but when it comes to grades 4, 5 and 6 we're way above where we should be. As funding has gotten tighter those class sizes have been gradually inching up."

There isn't enough money to fund class size reduction at the kindergarten level which meant nine of the state's 17 school districts asked for waivers for their kindergarten classes this year, Rheault said.

Clark County's average kindergarten class size is the state's largest at 24.4 students for every teacher.

"We can't turn a child away and tell them we don't have space," said Kelly Sturdy, principal of Fay Herron Elementary School in North Las Vegas, where kindergarten classes average 32 students. "What we wind up with is a very crowded room and not a lot of time for individual attention."

Over the past few years Sturdy has seen her class sizes gradually climbing in all grades.

"Every time the district has faced financial difficulties the easiest way to raise money has been to increase class sizes," Sturdy said. "It's an unfortunate reality."

Sturdy said she has concerns about "over-legislating" class size requirements.

"This isn't about adding kids up and hitting divide on your calculator, " Sturdy said. "It's about looking at your students as individuals and determining how to make the best use of the resources you have at that moment."

There are many Clark County kindergartens with as many 32 to 34 students for each teacher, said Martha Tittle, Clark County assistant superintendent of instruction.

While some at-risk schools use federal funding to pay for extra teachers the lack of classroom space requires double sessions. That means one teacher is often responsible for as many as 64 students in a single day, Tittle said.

"We know every study shows the more we're able to work with students in the younger grades the more successful they'll be as they advance," Tittle said. "The optimum is a classroom with 15 students and one teacher. When you can't have that, either because of space or funding, you need to look at ways of helping teachers be more effective in creative ways."

One solution is team teaching. About half of Clark County's elementary schools have two teachers sharing a room with as many as 40 students. Sturdy, who took over as principal at year-round Herron a year ago, said one of her first decisions was to eliminate team teaching.

"What I've found is you don't have two teachers, you have one person teaching and the other serving as the aide," Sturdy said. "Kids need room to spread out and having 35 or 40 kids all together is too much."

Sturdy decided to instead have seven "roving" teachers who move -- along with their students -- about every three weeks to whichever classroom becomes available through track breaks.

The plan's reception has been mixed, Sturdy said. Some teachers don't like moving because of the disruption and the hassle of starting in a new room every few weeks.

Gilda Drake, one of the roving first grade teachers at Herron, said she doesn't mind moving from one classroom to another because she keeps the same, relatively small group of students each time.

"I've had up 38 or 40 in a room all to myself," Drake said. "Having 17 is a dream."

At Rundle Elementary School, Principal Clarence Ehler uses team teaching in first and second grade classrooms and said he prefers the method to roving. While Rundle is no longer a year-round school Ehler used roving teachers when the school was on that schedule.

"I do consider roving to be a detriment," Ehler said. "The kids pick up on it, they sense that they're not being treated the same as the other students. Teachers find it very difficult to adjust."

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