After cuts, schools expect to meet state maximum class size

Tue, 02/17/2009 - 5:00pm
By: Ben Nelms

For the 2009-2010 school year, Fayette’s projected teacher/student ratio numbers for all grades are adjusted for up to 157 announced reductions in school staff. Board members have said they hope that all the reductions can come through attrition. To date, approximately 64 teachers have said they would not be returning next school year.

Information supplied by the Fayette County Board of Education shows a 2009-2010 state maximum class size of 22 students in kindergarten with a full-time paraprofessional. Fayette’s smallest kindergarten classroom is projected to have 17 students while the largest projected classroom will have 22 students, with an average of 20 students.

Regular grades 1-3 with a full-time parapro carry a state maximum of 23 students for 2009-2010. Fayette’s numbers show the smallest classroom with 17 students, the largest with 23 students and an average of 21.

The state maximum for English, Math, Science and Social Studies in grades 4-5 is 30 students. Fayette shows a minimum classroom size of 22 students and a maximum size of 28 students for an average of 25.

The same classrooms in grades 6-8 have a state maximum of 30 students. Proposed Fayette numbers show a smallest classroom size of 20 students with the largest at 28 students, resulting in an average of 25.

And in grades 9-12 the state maximum classroom size is 32 students for English, Math, Social Studies, Science and Foreign Language. Fayette numbers show a minimum class size of 20, and a maximum size of 32, for an average of 25.2 students.

The following is a look at Fayette County School System’s current classroom sizes based on teacher/student ratios for elementary schools and the projected 2009-2010 ratios for all grades.

The current state maximum classroom size for kindergarten is one teacher per 20 students. Maximums for grades 1-3 are 21 students per regular classrooms and 28 students in grades 4-5.

As of Oct. 31, according to information supplied by Fayette County School System, the teacher/student ratio in regular classrooms at Braelinn Elementary, excluding speciality classrooms, totals:

Kindergarten- 16.8 students
1st grade- 17.5
2nd grade- 18.8
3rd grade- 18
4th grade- 21.4
5th grade- 23.2

At Brooks Elementary the ratios are:
Kindergarten- 19.5 students
1st grade- 16.3
2nd grade- 16.5
3rd grade- 17.7
4th grade- 17.3
5th grade- 17.7

At Burch Elementary:
Kindergarten- 19.4
1st grade- 18.7
2nd grade- 18.5
3rd grade- 19.4
4th grade- 21.6
5th grade- 21.3

At Cleveland Elementary:
Kindergarten- 19.3
1st grade- 18.4
2nd grade- 17.7
3rd grade- 19
4th grade- 21.8
5th grade- 21.8

At Crabapple Elementary:
Kindergarten- 19.3
1st grade- 18.5
2nd grade- 18.4
3rd grade- 19.5
4th grade- 21.8
5th grade- 20.4

At Fayetteville Intermediate:
3rd grade- 19.3
4th grade- 20.7
5th grade- 23.7

At Hood Avenue Elementary:
Kindergarten- 19.2
1st grade- 19.3
2nd grade- 16.9

At Huddleston Elementary:
Kindergarten- 17.3
1st grade- 18.6
2nd grade- 20.2
3rd grade- 18.7
4th grade- 20.8
5th grade- 22.2

At Inman Elementary:
Kindergarten- 17.5
1st grade- 18.3
2nd grade- 20
3rd grade- 18.6
4th grade- 22
5th grade- 25

At Kedron Elementary:
Kindergarten- 17
1st grade- 17.4
2nd grade- 18.8
3rd grade- 19.8
4th grade- 19.8
5th grade- 20.2

At Minter Elementary:
Kindergarten- 15.6
1st grade- 19.2
2nd grade- 16
3rd grade- 16
4th grade- 25.2
5th grade- 22

At North Fayette Elementary:
Kindergarten- 20.3
1st grade- 17.8
2nd grade- 17.8
3rd grade- 19.3
4th grade- 23
5th grade- 23.7

At Oak Grove Elementary:
Kindergarten- 16.6
1st grade- 16
2nd grade- 18.8
3rd grade- 16.3
4th grade- 24.3
5th grade- 19

At Peachtree City Elementary:
Kindergarten- 19
1st grade- 15.8
2nd grade 17.5
3rd grade- 17.3
4th grade- 25
5th grade- 21

At Peeples Elementary:
Kindergarten- 17.2
1st grade- 18.2
2nd grade- 19
3rd grade- 18.8
4th grade- 24
5th grade- 22

At Spring Hill Elementary:
Kindergarten- 15.5
1st grade- 18.2
2nd grade- 16
3rd grade- 19.8
4th grade- 22
5th grade- 21.6

At Tyrone Elementary:
Kindergarten- 15.7
1st grade- 21
2nd grade- 20.3
3rd grade- 18.3
4th grade- 20
5th grade- 21.3

A similar breakdown of ratios for individual grades at middle and high schools could not be provided since those figures were tabulated differently for grades 6-8 and grades 9-12.

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Submitted by hsh87 on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 8:20pm.

What is this saying exactly - is this article saying even after the elimination of teachers our class sizes will be within state maximum ranges? Is it also saying that currently grades 1-3 are to have a full time parapro? If so, more lies - averages - lets see actual numbers - my daughter doesn't have a parapro in her class but they need one - every kid learns at a different pace - I don't have the big bucks our upper school system employees have to hire a tutor for my child who is struggling - go ahead increase the class sizes and lets see how many kids we have attending summer school because they didn't pass the CRCT which is also ridiculous - then we'll be lower than Clayton County -

Submitted by fc1989 on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 5:33pm.

It appears these are the actual numbers used to get the averages. These are the smallest class size in each category, the largest class size in each category and the average for each category. Seems pretty straight forward. These numbers look more realistic compared to the student/teacher ratios that the Citizen printed last week.

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