By Suzanne Schmidt
Schools across Pasco County will have to make adjustments this fall to make sure all classes meet the Florida Constitution’s class size limitations.
As the Florida Constitution now stands, academic classes are capped at 25 for high schools, 22 for grades 4-8 and 18 for kindergarten through third grade.
Voters approved these caps in 2002 and state requirements have gradually changed. Now, however, voters may get another chance to reconsider the amendment this November. The new amendment would allow the classes to meet the limits based on averages instead of exact numbers. The current 18/22/25 numbers would remain in place as an average, with new “hard caps” of 30 for high school, 27 for grades 4-8 and 21 for the primary grades.
Academic courses affected by the cap include language arts/reading, science, social studies, math, exceptional student education, English speakers of other languages and self-contained classes.
State Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, is the sponsor of the amendment.
“If you call any principal in Pasco they would tell you that they need this passed,” Weatherford said. “I have met with them all and they have told me they need this flexibility in order to run their school.”
In 2002, 50 percent of voters voted to keep the amendment on the ballot as it was and the bill passed. In 2004, schools started implementing the new standards. In 2006, all the schools had to be at the right number for the classroom average. In 2008, each school had to meet the classroom per average. Now in 2010, every classroom affected by the bill has to meet the standards.
“This will give the voters the opportunity to vote to allow more flexibility,” Weatherford said. “No classroom will be able to have more than 25 students on average but no single class will have more than 30 students. It will keep the classes at the school-wide average. It is all about flexibility.”
This time the vote will have to be passed by 60 percent of voters since the rules have changed since the original vote in 2002.
“I think protecting the integrity of small class sizes is important, but there needs to be more flexibility,” Weatherford said. “We will have to directly adhere to the Constitution if it does not pass.”
Adhering to the Florida Constitution causes issues for administrators as well as students. Many students might be put into a class at the beginning of the school year only to be moved a few weeks later. Also students might not be able to go to their school of choice because there will not be enough room. Many students might not be able to take a class because of the caps according to Weatherford.
Not everyone supports the amendment. The Florida Education Association filed a lawsuit recently to block the amendment from the statewide ballot.
“The truth is that students need some flexibility in their class size or there will be a logistical nightmare,” Weatherford said. “We are trying to meet the requirement but most are not in compliance.”
In order to meet the requirements, schools are getting allotments to hire new teachers. That is money Weatherford thinks could be going to better things.
“We have spent $18 million since 2004 implementing the class size amendment,” Weatherford said. “This is money we could be investing in better technology and higher teacher pay. We are doing a disservice to the students when there are so many other things we could be doing. I am not saying class size is not important. I want to maintain the integrity of the bill, but I don’t want to have it to the detriment of the students.”
Carin Nettles, principal of Wesley Chapel High School, said she has already hired 10 new teachers for the school year with her allotment but she is not sure that will be enough.
“I don’t think they realize how many teachers it takes to meet that strict of a policy,” Nettles said. “If we do not meet the requirements, we are hit hard with financial penalties. For every student we have over the cap, we will be charged $3,500 per period. I think the district is going to have to make tough decisions. They will have to figure out what to cut now. They can’t cut the teachers.”
The dilemma is making it difficult for principals to plan their classes. One thing that Nettles said she is having a problem with is the advanced placement (AP) classes.
“I have to have at least 18 kids in an AP class in order to have the class,” Nettles said. “If enough kids don’t sign up for the class we can’t have it. These are the classes we want to have at this school and to not have them would be a detriment.”
Or on the other side of the issue, Nettles is also worried about the classes that too many kids have signed up for.
“With the amendment, I would be able to have a class of 30 students in English honors,” Nettles said. “As it is, I would have to make five of those kids take another class or take a virtual class.”
For now, Nettles said she has done all that she can. During the first few weeks of school, she will be able to adjust the numbers more appropriately.
“I think for now we are doing a pretty good job,” Nettles said. “We will have to do a head count in the first few weeks to see if we are meeting the class sizes. We have some kids who are enrolled who will probably not come to school and we will be figuring that out as we go along.”
Dave Estabrook, principal at Charles S. Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes, said he has been monitoring the numbers closely as well. He said it is too soon to tell what the final numbers will be.
“I want to be careful that we don’t go over the cap,” Estabrook said. “I hired teachers, but I didn’t use all of the allocation yet. I am going to monitor the count with the new family registration we will have over the next couple of weeks. Then we will have to wait and see until Aug. 16 when we will have to correct things and monitor them further.”
Estabrook said he believes the intentions of the bill are good, but it is causing some problems with scheduling. Either way though, he said he is excited and looking forward to another great school year.
“It has been very restrictive as far as developing the master schedule,” Estabrook said. “The intention of the amendment was to lower the number of students in the class so students can get more individual attention.”
Allen Altman, Pasco county school board member, said he is hoping to see voters at the ballot box in November who have studied the amendment and who understand it.
“I strongly encourage voters to become informed and to understand the cost of the current class size bill contained in the Constitution,” Altman said. “I think the alternative is certainly one that is beneficial and workable.”
At Gaither High School, history teacher Mark Kantor said his school has already been meeting the standards.
“We have been doing it in Hillsborough for the past two years,” Kantor said. “It hasn’t affected the teachers a whole lot. We are not teaching classrooms with only 25 students instead of 35 students. I think it is a good thing. The classroom management technique is more defined now. It is more effective to be able to concentrate on individual students.”
Even though Kantor said he sees a lot of good in the bill, he said there have been problems getting it instituted.
“It has been a growing process ever since the bill was instituted,” Kantor said. “As long as we have enough qualified teachers, then it is not a problem. When there are not enough teachers, there is a backfire. It seems like this is a service that is needed, but nobody wants to pay for it.”
CLASS SIZE AMENDMENT
Florida voters will get a chance to adjust the class size amendment they approved in 2002.
Grade? K-3 4-8 9-12
Current Cap 18 22 25
Proposed Cap* 21 27 30
*The proposed cap would still require school averages to remain at 18/22/25, but individual classes could be larger than 21/27/30.
