Policy Hearing Announcement

POLICY HEARING ANNOUNCEMENT

The Montpelier Board of School Commissioners has scheduled the following policy for public hearing and vote on adoption on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at approximately 7:15 p.m. in the Montpelier High School Library:

Class Size

CLASS SIZE

Policy Overview

It is the intent of the Board to comply with Sections 15 and 16 of Act 153 of 2010 requiring superintendents to work with school boards to develop policy guidelines for minimum and optimal average class sizes in regular and technical education classes.

Guidelines

The superintendent or his or her designee shall, in consultation with building principals, develop district-wide class minimum and optimum average class size guidelines that take into account the instructional needs of specific elementary grade intervals and required and elective courses at the secondary level.

Class size guidelines in the school district may vary as necessary to reflect differences among other school districts and unions due to geography and other factors, such as school size and programmatic needs.

The guidelines shall also ensure compliance with state or federal requirements.

The superintendent shall report to the Board at least annually on the implementation of this policy, and shall include in his or her report information related to the use of the guidelines in determining actual class sizes and program offerings in the schools within the supervisory union.

The Vermont Department of Education’s Class Size Policy Guidelines shall be considered in developing class size guidelines.

Definitions

Class  A teaching section (i.e., group of students being taught by a teacher during the same period) at the 9-12 level.

Course  All classes with the same title as listed within the Program of Studies (e.g., Grade 9 English, Earth Science, Geometry, U.S. History, etc.).

Content Area  A group of courses within a specific licensing endorsement area (e.g., English, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics, Art, Music, etc.).

Grade Level  The individual grade at the elementary level (e.g., Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, etc.).

Singleton Course  Course in which only one class is offered.

New Course  A singleton course in its first or second year of existence.

Advanced Course  Advanced Placement, honors, or other advanced level course.

Core Course  A specific course that is required of all students in which students do not have a choice of options available other then level (e.g., Health, English 9, English 10, U.S. History, etc.).

Elective Course  Those courses that students have a menu of options available to take in order to meet the graduation requirement, and those classes that are offered as an elective.

Terminal Course  A course that is the most advanced course in a particular sequence of academically oriented courses.  For example, in the French language sequence beginning with French I and ending with Advanced Placement French, the terminal course would be Advanced Placement French.

Academic Support  Additional instructional support time allocated for students struggling within a particular content area(s).  This may include summer school support, after school support, and additional learning opportunities during the regular school day.  However, this would not include courses that are offered over an extended period of time for all students taking the course (e.g., Algebra 1B).

K-8 Class Size Parameters

K-8 Governing Rules

1.  The minimum, optimal, and maximum enrollment numbers specified above is the average of all classes within the particular grade cluster.  At the 6-8 level, this includes PE, World Language, and all Unified Arts classes, as well as English/Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies.  This means that some classes (e.g., PE, Band/Chorus, specific grade levels, etc.) may exceed the stated maximum.

a.   Example: If we have one K class with 15 students, one K class with 17 students, one Grade 1 class with 19 students, one Grade 1 class with 18 students, one Grade 2 class with 20 students, one Grade 2 class with 19 students, one Grade 3 class with 22 students, and one Grade 3 class with 21 students, the average for this grade cluster would be 18.9, which is between the optimal and maximum for this grade cluster.

2.   Adding a class within a grade cluster or grade level will not be considered unless the maximum average is exceeded for the corresponding grade cluster.

3.   For purposes of considering class reductions in elementary classrooms, the maximum number of empty seats per grade level shall be equal to the maximum average for the corresponding grade cluster.  The maximum number of empty seats is the sum of the differences between the maximum average class size for the grade cluster and the actual number of students for each class within each grade level.  If the maximum number of seats is met or exceeded, the number of sections/classes shall be reduced.

a.  Example: If there are 90 grade K students and you have 6 grade K teachers, there would be approximately 30 empty seats (6 teachers x 20 student maximum = 120 total maximum; 120 total maximum – 90 actual students = 30), which means we would need to reduce the number of grade K sections by one class resulting in a class size average of 18 (vs 15).

4.   While these parameters are not designed for individual class sizes, reasonable efforts will be made to adhere to the minimum and maximum averages within each school, grade level, and/or grade level team.

9-12 Class Size Parameters

9-12 Governing Rules

1.  The minimum, optimal, and maximum enrollment numbers specified above is the average of all classes within the particular content area (or course for singleton, new, advanced, terminal or core courses).  This means that the average for some classes or courses may exceed the stated maximum.

a.   Example: In Social Studies, if we have three Global History classes with enrollment of 17, 20, and 21, and three U.S. History classes with enrollment of 23, 18, 25, and three American Government classes with enrollment of 15, 25, 19, and five elective classes with enrollment of 28, 26, 25, 27, and 23, the average for this content area is 22.3, which is optimal for this content area. 

2.  If a course meets the minimum enrollment average enrollment stated in the chart, there is no guarantee that the course will continue to be offered.  Courses with less than 15 enrollees may be dropped as a result of program changes or budget restrictions, as well as student registration outcomes.

3.   Staffing levels during the budgeting process shall typically be done at or around the optimal reflected in each content area based on anticipated enrollment.  Staffing allocation or reallocation between content areas may be necessary as a result of student registration outcomes.

4.   In some cases, the registration for singleton, new, advanced, or terminal courses may need to be higher than the minimum depending on the history of drops/adds for the course in order to run the course.

5.   For purposes of considering class reductions, the maximum number of empty seats per new, advanced, terminal or core courses shall be equal to the maximum average for the course.  If the maximum number of seats is met or exceeded, the number of sections/classes shall be reduced.

a.   Example: If there are 30 students enrolled in an advanced course, one class would put it over the maximum.  Two classes would result in an average of 15 with 20 empty seats, which is within the guidelines.  However, this does not guarantee that two classes will be offered – only that it is permissible.  Other factors such as average class size for the content area and budgetary constraints will also impact the number of classes offered. 

6.   The principal or his or her designee has the discretion of how many sections of each course to offer within each content area provided the overall staffing levels are within the budgetary constraints.  However, core courses shall be given precedence over elective courses when it comes to section distribution. 

7.   The Board shall be informed in advance of the elimination of a content area, advanced course, or terminal course.

8.   When two or more courses are offered in one class, the total enrollment for all the courses will be considered for minimum, optimal, and maximum class size. 

9.   When two teachers co-teach one class, the class will be counted as two classes for the purpose of determining class size averages. 

10.  Proposed new courses must minimally be recommended for approval by the Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment prior to being considered for approval by the Principal.  The Principal’s decision to approve or not approve a new course shall be final provided the provisions of this procedure are adhered to.  No more than one new course per content area shall be permitted at any one time unless the enrollment for all but one of the new courses is at or above the minimum level for the content area (e.g., above 18 if an art course).  Requests for new courses must be received by November 15^th, with final approval no later than December 1^st (prior to the development of the Program of Studies for the corresponding school year). 

11.  Increasing the number of classes offered of a new, advanced, or terminal course will not be considered unless the maximum average is exceeded for the corresponding course. 

12.  In the event a singleton, new, advanced, or terminal course falls below the minimum, the course may be offered every other year at the principal’s discretion. 

13.  In the event the enrollment for a singleton course falls below the minimum for two consecutive offerings, the course will be dropped from the offerings in the course of study. 

14.  Courses tentatively offered for a subsequent school year will be published in the annual Program of Studies, with the understanding that some courses may not be offered due to insufficient enrollment, budgetary constraints, staffing changes, or other administrative reasons.  Furthermore, it may not be possible to schedule students for all courses sought, nor are there guarantees that schedule changes may accommodate students’ changes in course selections or levels once met. 

Additional Standards

In addition to the class size and course/content area enrollment parameters provided in the charts above, the following standards shall also apply:

Technical Education: Career and Technical Education (CTE) class size is primarily driven by factors related to course expectations, safety considerations, and space constraints. These factors, which drive maximum class size, may also impact minimum class size decisions, and must be evaluated in the context of guidelines specific to the course and equipment under consideration.  As such, CTE courses are excluded from the average minimum, optimal, and maximum class size or course/content area enrollment parameters contained herein.

Special Education: Federal law requires that each special education student receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). For this reason, special education services and programming (e.g., adaptive PE, Summit program, employment program, etc.) are excluded from the average minimum, optimal, and maximum class size or course/content are enrollment parameters contained herein.

English Language Learners (ELL): Because of the unique characteristics of English language learners, English as a Second Language (ESL) services are excluded from the average minimum and optimal class size calculations.

Virtual Learning Classes: For purposes of calculating minimum and optimal average class sizes for distance learning classes, the total number of students and teachers at all sites shall be considered in the calculation.

Alternative Education Programming:  Due to the specialized programming and nature of alternative education programs, these programs shall be excluded from the average minimum, optimal, and maximum class size or course/content area enrollment parameters contained herein.

Math/Reading Support: Support groups geared towards providing additional (i.e., double-dosing) support for Title I/EST students in the areas of reading and/or math shall be excluded from the average minimum, optimal, and maximum class size or course/content area enrollment parameters contained herein.

Driver’s Education: In order to comply with the Vermont Department of Education curriculum requirements which call for a minimum number of classroom hours and driving times, driver’s education shall be excluded from the average minimum, optimal, and maximum class size or course/content area enrollment parameters contained herein.

Essential Early Education: The Montpelier Essential Early Education Program serves Montpelier children, ages 3 years up to the sixth birthday, who have a developmental delay, medical condition, or other disability defined under state regulations and need special education.  These children and their families may receive a range of early intervention services at no cost to the parent, such as assessment, speech/language, occupational and physical therapy, individualized assistance in the classroom, and developmental teaching.  The Montpelier EEE Program is housed within the Family Center of Washington County.  Children receiving EEE often attend the Family Center Preschool, where a play-based developmental curriculum and an interdisciplinary teaching team offer opportunities for play with peers and many hands-on activities to build social/emotional, communicative, motor, and pre-academic skills.  Accordingly, this program shall be excluded from the average minimum, optimal, and maximum class size or course/content area enrollment parameters contained herein.

Date Warned:                April 25, 2011

Date Adopted: