I saw a draft of Centralia schools’ K-6 “Recommendation A” for how many students would be at each of the grade levels at Washington Elementary, and it shows only two classrooms in five of the grade levels and three classrooms at two of the grade levels if this configuration is adopted. We were told there would be three classrooms at each grade level.
It also shows a lot of empty seats or overloads that would have to be fixed, which the district does now at the beginning of every year. The K-6 configuration is going to make it far worse.
The numbers planned at each grade level for K-6 buildings don’t easily divide into two or three classes, so the school district is going to have to balance classes. For example, in fourth grade at Washington, there are supposed to be 63 students. The class sizes limits in the contract allow 26 per classroom at fourth grade. The 63 fourth graders at Washington will provide 21 students each in three classes, but that leaves 15 seats not filled.
The district gets funds on a per-student basis and will not be able to afford paying for three teachers for three classrooms with 15 empty seats, not without overloading classes elsewhere or moving students to Washington.
Jefferson-Lincoln also has 63 students, and would have three classrooms at 21 each and 15 empty seats. But if they created just two classes with the limit of 26 each, and then shipped the other 11 students over to Washington to fill some of their empty seats, it saves the district paying for another teacher.
Oakview also has three students at fourth grade who won’t fit the limits. Those three could also go to Washington.
But what a mess!
Students would be chosen to move to Washington instead of going where they were promised by the boundary change caused by K-6 configuration. And this is only the fourth grade. There are six other grade levels, and each needs to balance class sizes with the limits negotiated by contract.
The only way around moving students between buildings is to fund a lot more teachers than the state provides money for and keep all these class sizes smaller, but that will be too expensive. Or do split level classes, where a teacher has students from two different grade levels, but that has never worked.
With the current K-3 and 4-6 buildings, there are three, four or five classrooms at each grade level in each building, and it is far easier to balance the class sizes with class limits without shipping students across town or doing split classes.
The K-6 configuration has lots of hidden problems not anticipated, and the district needs to reconsider. Plus the research they say exists that third to fourth transitions hurt kids doesn’t exist.
Why make the change? The district just hasn’t thoroughly thought this through and is misleading teachers on class numbers at each grade level.
Christine Meyer
Centralia
