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State To Ease Class-Size Measure

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By RUSSELL RAY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 19, 2008

Updated: 04/19/2008 12:17 am

TALLAHASSEE - On Friday, the House and the Senate voted unanimously to give school districts facing deep budget cuts a temporary reprieve from strict class-size standards that are set to take effect next school year.

Requirements for reducing class sizes will be eased from the limits that were supposed to kick in next school year.

Doing that, they said, would enable districts to avoid spending more money to hire teachers and splitting up classrooms to reduce class sizes.

"It's giving the districts the ability to meet the requirements without the rigid rules," said Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association.

The Senate unanimously approved a similar measure last week. Support for the legislation comes as lawmakers consider cutting more than $200 million from public school budgets in 2008-09.

Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2002 that requires school districts to gradually shrink class sizes to certain levels by the 2010-11 school year. But the measure requires schools to split up classrooms and hire new teachers to accommodate just a few new students.

"It was an inflexible amendment," Pudlow said. "I don't think anybody intended that classes would be broken up in the middle of the school year."

Right now, compliance to class size caps is based on the average for each grade. Starting in 2008-09, however, each class is supposed to comply with the cap, a tougher standard to meet.

But the House bill would allow school districts to keep using school averages to comply with class-size caps through the 2009-10 school year.

What's more, the average could exceed the cap by four students in 2008-09 and two students in 2009-10 without hiring new teachers and splitting up classes.

The Senate's version also preserves the current formula for compliance through 2009-10.

"It gives you flexibility in the school without going to a very large class," said Connie Milito, a lobbyist for Hillsborough County Schools.

The current implementation process is so stringent that it could cause "disruptions to families and communities," Milito said.

For instance, students who move into the district midyear could be sent to other schools and prevented from taking the courses they need to graduate on time, she said.

"It could end up wasting a lot of state dollars."

Although the House and Senate bills ease some of the requirements for reducing class sizes, school districts still must comply with the ultimate class-size targets set by the constitutional mandate approved in 2002.

By the 2010-11 school year, class sizes must not exceed:

•A maximum of 18 students in classes for pre-K through third grade.

•A maximum of 22 students in classes for fourth grade through eighth grade.

•A maximum of 25 students in classes for ninth grade through 12th grade.

Two years ago, legislation backed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush would have lowered those mandates. But the measure failed because lawmakers were reluctant to weaken the standards.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or rray@tampatrib.com.

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