Schools

No Plan to Add Section For Hamilton Third Grade, Superintendent Says

Parents have said they believe the class sizes are too large.

Despite concerns from parents about growing class sizes for the Hamilton Primary School second graders, there is currently no plan to add another section for next year’s third grade.

Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder said at the May 28 board of education meeting that, at this point, there are 70 students in the second grade. From there, he said, four students have been identified to join the AI program.

“All four parents have accepted [their children entering the program], so the number of students going to third grade is 66,” he said.

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Dividing that by the three sections the class currently has makes 22 students in each class.

“As third graders, that would be my recommendation at this point to have three sections,” Schilder said.

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Schilder said they are continuing to closely monitor the class sizes.

“When it comes to class sizes, we are watching those in all sections and all schools very carefully,” he said. “We try not to make too many firm decisions either way until the end of the school year.”

At this time, Schilder said, the district is in its recruitment season, which it tries to do at the beginning of the summer.

“We can still get good quality people in the beginning of the summer,” he said. “But we are looking at that well through the end of the school year into the early part of summer.”

Argonne Farm Drive resident John Corbitt, who has a child in the second grade at Hamilton, said he would still prefer to see class sizes in the high teens, but is willing to wait and see.

But, Corbitt asked what would make the district change its mind about adding another section, and he questioned whether Schilder’s upcoming retirement would affect the situation.

“I don’t think my retirement has anything to do with it,” Schilder said. “Class sizes are reviewed regularly with principals and the assistant superintendent, so it’s not something that falls off the radar.”

As for changes to the number of sections, Schilder said it is a matter of seeing who moves in, who registers for school and who moves out. There might be sections that suddenly drop because a few kids move out, he said, and adjustments will be made from there.

“At what point in the summer do you decide that that’s it no matter who moves in?” he said. “Once teachers are announced and notifications are sent out, it becomes more difficult to split the class even further. We’ve done that sometimes, but we do it carefully.”

“We have to keep in mind who is available, and the fact that recruitment season is over in late August,” he added. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t find someone good.”

Schilder said that, in most cases, they feel pretty good about their decisions on class sizes by mid summer, but they do have to look carefully throughout the summer about whether they split sections or not.

But several parents were still displeased by the number of students projected for classes. One parent said she believes it is not fair on the teachers either to have so many children in the classroom.

Hamilton parent Pamela Reese said she also believes the behavior of students needs to be considered.

“It is not a numbers game,” she said. “The behavioral readiness of the children must be considered, and there are a lot of kids in the classroom who are behaviorally immature.”


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