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Many of the parents I’ve spoken with have raised concerns about large class sizes. If students come home telling their parents about a day full of distractions from learning and general chaos in the classroom, our teachers and administrators should take notice. Three grade levels at Haynes, one grade level at Nixon, and one grade level at Noyes are currently above the guidelines – and some have been above the guidelines for years.
The FY26 SPS Budget Book shows that over the next five years, SPS enrollment will increase by approximately 225 students. It presents a tricky dilemma for SPS, because there is no way to know if this increase will actually occur, and if it does, there is no way to know in which class, which school, or which grade these new students will enter the system. If and when a new section of a class needs to be added, the impacts touch classroom availability, teacher needs, and budgetary limitations.
SPS currently follows class size guidelines established by a School Committee subcommittee in 2016-2017. The guidelines were intended to be flexible and provide the Superintendent and school principals with a range of options on how to manage classes that are above the recommended class sizes. All efforts should be made to ensure that class size guidelines are met. The National Education Association reports that as students’ academic and mental health needs continue to increase, efforts to keep class sizes manageable should also increase. Not only do smaller class sizes provide benefits for students, it also benefits teachers.
The current SPS guidelines are as follows:
- Kindergarten = 20 students per class
- Grades 1 & 2 = 22 students per class
- Grades 3-8 = 24 students per class
With the possible influx of new students and the knowledge that some classrooms are already above the class size guidelines, the School Committee and SPS should conduct a capacity review of each of our schools. This type of review of the available space in each of our buildings would also be beneficial in helping to understand the availability of space for additional after school care and enrichment programs.
Current enrollment data for SPS can be found here
https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1741022396/sudburyk12maus/lrqiigptittxlq5tdvqa/March3_Public_1.pdf
Class size guidelines for SPS can be found here
https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1724859982/sudburyk12maus/n1f0o0fh5vcdedutdgn2/Class_Size_Guidelines.pdf
Article from the National Education Association with links to additional research can be found here
https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/class-sizes-growing-issue-among-educators