Charge to the Subcommittee on Class Size Policy January 10, 2007 To: School Committee From: Mickey Brandmeyer Re: Recommendation to establish a subcommittee to review the class size policy Background Class size, the number of classes per grade and associated personnel costs continue to have a significant impact on the district’s budget. Parent, teachers, administrators and members of the School Committee continue to express their interest in supporting small class sizes. Each year since I have been the Superintendent, the School Committee has guidelines for the development of the budget. These guidelines have directed the administrative team to develop a budget that maintains small class sizes and adheres to the policy on class size. During the development of the FY’07 and FY’08 Budgets we have struggled with this guideline. On both occasions the challenge manifested itself at grade 2, which happens to be the grade in which target and maximum class sizes increase to 22 and 24 students, respectively. Policy guidelines for kindergarten and grade one are each lower by two (K = target of 18, maximum of 20; grade 1 = target of 20, maximum of 22). As a result the opportunity to reduce a section, increase class size and adhere to the policy occurs at grade 2. In FY’07 the administration presented a preliminary budget that projected enrollment of 84 students at grade two with five sections resulting in an average class size of 16.8. As the budget gap was resolved, one section was eliminated and class sizes increased to an average of 21.3. In FY’08 the preliminary budget included four sections for grade 2 with a projected enrollment of 68 students and an average class size of 17. Once again we faced the challenging decision of reducing one section and increasing class size. In both cases the larger projected class sizes fell within the existing class size policy. Concurrently with the discussion regarding class size and its impact on the Lincoln Budget, the Department of Defense issued new class size guidelines in the solicitation to operate the schools at Hanscom Air Force Base. Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, the new guidelines called for class size for PreK to grade 3 to average no more than 18 students and grades 4 to 8 to average no more than 23 students. This adjustment increased the class size targets at kindergarten and grade 1, reduced the targets in grades 2 and 3 and increased the targets in grades 4 to 8. In grades 1 to 8 new guidelines were lower than the maximum class sizes in the existing policy. Several members of the Committee and parents have expressed an interest in reviewing the class size policy, especially in light of recent budgeting decisions. Policy School Committee policies are designed to provide guidance to school administrators for the effective operation of the schools and educational programs. They further serve as guidelines that can be used with other governing boards in the development of agreements about the operation of the school district. For example, the policy on class size has been used by the School Committee and Finance Committee to establish agreements and understandings about budgeting, contingencies and use of the reserve fund. Policies are created and may be amended for several reasons: change in education law or regulations; new information about teaching and learning; changes in expectations for programming or student achievement; or local conditions that require policy development, among others. The School Committee developed its initial class size policy, which was adopted on November 2, 1981. The policy was reviewed and amended in February 1985 and again in October 1987. Five years later in September 1992 the Committee once again established a committee to review class size. This work resulted in another change to the policy. In each case the existing class size was reduced. In 1995 Superintendent McQuillan proposed another review of the class size policy and a subcommittee was formed. School Committee minutes include several references to subcommittee reports and a meeting in which a final edit to the proposed policy was suggested, however no action was taken. The last revision to the policy was made in June 2000, at which time the Committee established target and maximum class sizes and a procedure for addressing changing enrollments after the budget was prepared. This is the version of the policy that exists today. Following the budget problems of FY’01, the Town convened a Task Force to study and report on the operation of the school department. The Task Force report included several observations about Lincoln’s class size policy and the impact that it has on the district’s budget. The Task Force observed that parents and teachers desire small classes and that “Lincoln’s target class size is consistent with the targets of our peer towns, but Lincoln’s actual class sizes are consistently below these targets.” The Task Force also observed that class size is a significant budget driver and recommended that the School Committee seek methods to set class sizes more closely to the existing policy. During the preparation of the FY’04 Budget the issue of class sizes and number of sections was once again discussed and the School Committee considered establishing a subcommittee. After further consideration the Committee decided to maintain the existing policy and elected not to establish a review committee. Over the past decade the School Committee and administration have managed to maintain class sizes at or below the targets established in the policy. At the same time the conditions in which public schools operate have changed. Massachusetts passed a sweeping Education Reform Act in 1993 and five years ago the federal government passed an education reform commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind. Both sets of regulations have increased expectations for student achievement, established rigorous testing programs and imposed accountability measures for schools and districts. These mandates have necessitated a shift in methods of instruction. Instead of lessons aimed generally at a class of students teachers are expected to design standards based lessons with high levels of student-student or student-teacher interaction, active learning strategies and assessment to determine each student’s level of proficiency. Additionally, teachers are expected to develop students centered lessons that differentiate for varied learning styles, to integrate students with special needs in the general classroom as frequently as possible and to teach a broader curriculum more deeply than in past years. For these and other reasons I am requesting that the School Committee convene a subcommittee to study the issue of class size. To begin this work I propose the following charge to the subcommittee. Charge to the Subcommittee The School Committee shall convene a subcommittee for the purpose of reviewing the current class size policy and provide a recommendation to the School Committee to consider at a future date. The subcommittee will be called: The Class Size Policy Review Committee [CSPRC]. The charge to the subcommittee will be to: Review current educational research on class size and its effect on academic achievement Collect and review information on class size policies from comparable communities and prepare this information for discussion Review and report on instructional supports in comparable communities including but not limited to: Instructional assistants Non-instructional assistants Special education tutors Special education teachers Specialist teachers (reading specialists, math specialists, other content specialists (art, music, science, PE, Health, etc), and ELL teachers Supplementary programs (interventions, remedial services, enrichment programs, academically talented programs) Review and report on the student profile in comparable communities including but not limited to: The number and percentage of students on IEP who are included in general education classrooms The number and percentage of students on IEPs who receive the majority of their services outside the regular classroom The number and percentage of students by grade level on IEPs or 504 plans by category: intensive needs or moderate needs The number and percentage of ELL students per classroom The number and percentage of students who receive free or reduced lunch per classroom Review AYP and MCAS data for Lincoln and comparable communities to determine levels of student proficiency Design and conduct activities to collect information to determine perspectives of teachers, administrators and parents Identify the classroom structures, routines, and instructional approaches that are impacted by class size Develop and discuss class size recommendations that support developmentally appropriate instructional practices, i.e., early childhood instructional issues, class sizes that are most appropriate for middle grades and class sizes and instructional organizations that are most appropriate for middle school grades. Assess cost impact of any proposed policy change for the next five to ten years. Assess the impact on school facilities of any proposed policy change for the next five to ten years. Proposed Timeline It is recommended that The Class Size Policy Review Committee complete its work and develop proposals for the School Committee to consider no later than October 1, 2007, so that potential changes may be considered in the development of the FY’09 Budget. In order to accomplish this task the following time line is suggested: January 2007 School Committee accepts the charge and establishes CSPRC February 2007 Advertise, assemble and School Committee approves membership on CSPRC February and March 2007 Committee meets at least bi-weekly to formulate plan, begins literature review and collects class size policy information from comparable communities. Consider use of survey data and develop plan if necessary Make progress report to School Committee on March 29 April 2007 Collect and analyze staffing data from comparable communities Collect and analyze students demographic data from comparable communities Complete the literature review Conduct activities to determine the classroom structures, routines, and instructional approaches that are impacted by class size Begin financial analysis Begin facilities analysis May 2007 Complete financial analysis Complete facilities analysis Summer 2007 Develop final report and recommendation(s) to School Committee September 2007 Present final report and recommendation(s) to School Committee Composition of the Subcommittee 3 to 4 teachers (K-2, 3-5, 6-8) 1 principal 1 central office administrator 3 to 4 parents (K-2, 3-5, 6-8) 2 school committee members 2 community representatives Ex-Officio Member Finance Committee Liaison The School Committee will solicit volunteers through advertisement in the Lincoln Journal, DistrictNews and SCNews, School Newsletters and School Committee Bulletin Boards.

Date last modified: May 08 2007

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