tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post4162626478427807439..comments2024-03-26T04:16:12.042-05:00Comments on a blog about school: School board already planning to ignore its own capacity numbersChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12919030671050831251noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-72172858155239887092013-08-24T10:07:58.141-05:002013-08-24T10:07:58.141-05:00Here's the P-C coverage.
The article implie...Here's the <a href="http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20130824/NEWS01/308240030/Board-talks-class-sizes?Local%20News" rel="nofollow">P-C coverage</a>. <br /><br />The article implies (with the district's help) that if the caps aren't met, it will be because there's not enough room in the buildings under the new capacity determinations. That's misleading in two ways. First, the effective constraint is teacher salaries, not capacity. But second, the overall capacity right now is tighter than preferable (and way too tight in some buildings), but more because of imbalances between schools than because of the overall enrollment.<br /><br />I ran last year's enrollment numbers (school by school, grade by grade) through this new policy. If the policy had been applied last year, the district would have needed 333 classrooms for its gen ed enrollment. The district currently has 405 classrooms. Set aside four in each buildings for things like art, music, preschools, and special ed classrooms, and you'd still have 329 classrooms for gen ed. <br /><br />That is actually too tight, especially since needs in each building vary unpredictably, and it's particularly tight in some schools because it's been so long since boundaries have been adjusted. But it's not so tight that it's clear that we need three new elementaries. The case for the three new elementaries depends a lot on whether the forecasted enrollment growth actually shows up.<br /><br />In any event, it's not a shortage of classrooms that would prevent the district from meeting its proposed class size goals. It's a shortage of money for teachers. All the new classrooms in the world won't make it happen.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.com