Board hastens class size cuts at five Wayne County schools
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on February 27, 2018 12:29 AM
The Wayne County Board of Education voted to quickly reduce class sizes at five low-performing elementary schools at its meeting Monday night.
The vote came during a discussion on the results of the board's Student Assignment Committee meeting Feb. 8, which included a recommendation that schools be considered "appropriately populated" if they are between 90 and 105 percent full. Board member Raymond Smith said that low-performing schools in Wayne County have a high prevalence of lateral entry teachers, who are not typically licensed, and that the board needed to focus on prioritizing assigning certified teachers to low-performing elementary schools.
Smith then made a motion that the board implement the class size restrictions originally mandated by the General Assembly in House Bill 90 -- a maximum of 18 students per class in kindergarten, 16 in first grade, and 17 in second and third grades -- at the five low-performing elementary schools by the start of the 2018-2019 school year. The motion also included prioritizing those schools when placing licensed teachers.
The five low-performing elementary schools in Wayne County Public Schools are Brogden Primary, Carver Elementary, Carver Heights Elementary, Eastern Wayne Elementary and Spring Creek Elementary.
The board passed the motion five votes to two, with Jennifer Strickland and Chris West casting the dissenting votes. Strickland said she agreed that low-performing schools need to be addressed, but could not in good conscience vote for the motion without any information on if Wayne County Public Schools could actually implement it in the given time frame.