By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Residents applauded as the Cupertino Union School District Trustees unanimously approved a class-size reduction proposal Feb. 11 that leaves a popular staggered kindergarten program intact.
The plan, presented by Superintendent Patricia Lamson at the board's Jan. 28 meeting, will give first-grade teachers the option of team teaching but will not require it. Ratios of 20-to-1 in first-grade classrooms would be maintained.
In addition, the proposal extends the 20-to-1 student-teacher ratio to second-graders for half of each day. But the decision whether to implement class-size reduction in second grade will be left to each school.
Nearly 3,000 Sunnyvale kids attend CUSD schools. Four of the district's schools, Nimitz, Stocklmeir and West Valley elementary schools and Cupertino Junior High, are located in Sunnyvale.
Putting the plan into effect will cost the district more than $1 million, but Lamson is confident the state will increase its partial funding from a proposed $666 per student to $750 or $800 per student. The district also has hopes that the governor's budget will include increased funding for class-size reduction next year. Money currently used for completed pilot programs will be diverted to help pay for the plan.
By adding of a half-day second grade to the class-size reduction mix, the district automatically qualifies for extra state funding because of its kindergarten program, which is already at a ratio of 16-to-1. Districts are required to reduce class sizes in second grade before kindergarten funding becomes available.
To accommodate half-day class-size reduction in second grade, a part-time teacher will work in classrooms throughout the district, taking over half the class during reading and math instruction. No extra classrooms would be needed for implementation.
Trustee Debbie Byron was pleased that this year's first-graders would continue to receive small-group instruction.
"The continuity for them is important. With the half-day second grade, we can get teachers on board to staff an expansion of this program. This is not a risky venture," she said.
A schools has the option to use up to two Guided Learning Center rooms to house its overflow of children if the school decides not to create team-taught classrooms. Those rooms would revert to GLC use during the middle of the year, once the district has purchased modular classrooms.
Board president Sandra James wants to be sure that the use of GLCs is temporary.
"We will be keeping our eyes and pulses on recapturing those classrooms. I think this has been a really incredibly successful process that tackles a huge problem. Everybody gives a little bit and, in the end, we do what's best for the children," she said.
The administration is also considering a plan to begin an internship program for teachers. The district might use those interns as part-time second-grade teachers to save more money, Lamson said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 19, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.