Bill would restore class size
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on March 5, 2017 12:09 AM
A bill making its way through the state Senate could reverse legislative changes to class sizes in North Carolina schools -- changes which Wayne County lawmakers and education experts agree would place substantial strain on the district's resources.
Keeping the legislation in place could lead to cuts in arts and music programs and potential increases in property tax rates to help fund the measures.
House Bill 13 sets requirements for individual and average class sizes back to where they were before a bill in August of 2016 reduced them. Under the current law, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, school districts would have to reduce average class sizes to between 16 and 19 students, depending on grade level. Those limits are stricter than previous laws, which gave districts some leeway to exceed allotted numbers when necessary.
In a district already combating school overcrowding, superintendent Michael Dunsmore said the changes would require Wayne County Public Schools to hire 64 new teachers, and find space for all of them.
But the money to pay for those newly-created positions and to create space for more classrooms would have to come from somewhere, indicating that cuts would be likely and making a tax increase a near-certainty.
One school currently dealing with space issues is Tommy's Road Elementary, where the music and art teachers have had to leave their rooms to make space for more classes. The school has grown by nearly 100 students this year, said principal Tameka Allen, forcing administrators to place the art and music teachers on mobile carts which they push from room to room to teach classes.
Ms. Allen said the staff has handled the situation well.
"I'm honored to work with people who can handle this situation and continue to provide quality instruction." she said. "In terms of our instruction, this has not made it any less rigorous."
Being without a room does place limitations on what teachers can do, however. Uli Shepard, art teacher at Tommy's Road, can no longer use the stationary kiln she previously used for pottery lessons. If the changes were to go into effect as planned, there would not be much the school could do about it.
"That would be detrimental, because there is no room left," Ms. Allen said. "Not just classroom space, there is no more office space or anything left."
Ms. Shepard agreed.
"Unless we want to teach in the hallway or split the gym in half," she said.
The House passed the bill unanimously on Feb. 16, the second time it has approved the bill since December 2016. Another bill to address the issue was approved then, but the Senate never acted on it.
Sen. Louis Pate, a sponsor of the bill, said it is necessary to make sure school districts have the flexibility they need.
"I think the provisions are very good, and they will be very well received," he said. "The bill restores the historical leeway developed over the years, and it gives the flexibility to [local education agencies] to adjust to the complicated funding process relative to class size."
The issue is one of realism, he said.
"Students don't come to class in concise groupings that meet desired class sizes," he said.
That state funding process, which allots money for schools based on their attendance, is another concern. Because the class size reductions do not come with any new money to pay for the teachers they would require, the changes would create new costs for school districts while student enrollment stays roughly the same.
This has led many districts to consider cutting specialty programs like art, music and physical education, as those are not factored into the allotment and would need to be financed by local funds. This could potentially lead to higher property taxes.
Cutting those programs would also be one of the only ways to free up some of the space districts would need.
Rick Pridgen, Wayne County Board of Education district 6 representative, said that keeping specialty programs in schools is vital.
"The last thing I or anyone wants to see is for us to get rid of art and music programs, because studies have shown that kids who get those programs do far better academically," he said. "I think it's just as important as the core subjects."
While he has criticized the General Assembly's approach, Dunsmore agrees that smaller class sizes are in the best interest of students. The district is already working on plans to reduce overcrowding, such as new classrooms at Fremont STARS Elementary, but they are long-term projects that would not be completed by the 2017-2018 school year.
Given enough time to roll out gradual changes, Dunsmore believes the district could reduce class sizes without having the resort to drastic measures. That would mean avoiding the issue of either cutting specialty programs or raising taxes to cover them. If H.B. 13 passes, it would give the district the breathing room to address those concerns at its own pace.
The bill is now in the Senate, where it passed a first reading on Feb. 20. It was subsequently sent to a Senate rules committee, and has not been addressed again since then.
Senator Louis Pate said that giving classes flexibility is important, but that school districts should also explore other ways to reduce class sizes.
"We need to have smaller classes," he said. "We should look at having a team of teachers teaching a group of kids, that's one idea I've heard."
That being said, Pate was in favor of H.B. 13, and said he wanted to avoid having to cut specialty programs.