By KATHERINE PETERSEN
After six months of gathering information and discussing class-size reduction, the Sunnyvale Elementary School District Board might shy away from implementing the plan in second grade next year.
Class-size reduction in second grade received almost unanimous support from a large contingent of parents in an advisory vote at a special meeting late last month.
The board will make a final decision on second-grade implementation at its Feb. 27 meeting.
Board members still appear caught between financial worries and the potential benefits of smaller classes in terms of children's ability to learn.
Board member Peggy Quillinan expressed concern at the Feb. 6 meeting about the instability of state monies that would partially fund the project. The state gives each district $650 per student in a smaller-sized class. The district's costs amount to an estimated $200,000 per year if class-size reduction is implemented in kindergarten through third grade. Additional money for facilities would not come out of the general fund. The district has already placed a tentative order for eight portables at $100,00 apiece for second-grade class-size reduction next year.
Deputy superintendent Ben Picard could not assure board members that state funding would not dry up. He could only stress the importance of not remaining "an island" as the only district not to implement the reduced class-size program.
The $200,00-per-year cost of implementation is a small percentage of the district's $30 million budget, he said.
Board member Linda Kilian worries that no studies show that a 20-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio would improve classroom instruction enough to warrant the financial risk.
Studies only show the benefits of a 15-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio, but Superintendent Doris Wilson pointed out that many classes were reduced from 24-to-1 to 15-to-1 to gauge improvement. Only Utah has larger class sizes than California, she said.
Alice Pounds, principal at Cherry Chase Elementary School, urged the board to consider the students in its decision. She said they will have more individual attention, more time will be spent on reading and math and teachers will have more flexibility to bring creativity into the curriculum.
Frances Iturburua, a Bishop School parent, said that while she is glad her first-grade daughter is in a smaller class, she is afraid some students will still fall through the cracks.
Picard agreed that reaping the benefits of smaller class size may require some changes in classroom management.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 12, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.