Class sizes could increase across the district
CITY HALL Facing an estimated $3 million budget deficit in the next fiscal year, school officials are considering whether to increase class sizes for kindergarten through third grade to make up the difference.
The district is mulling an increase to the student-to-teacher ratio from 19:1 this year to 20:1 for the 2007-08 school year. The change would result in a reduction of about six full-time equivalent positions, according to Dr. Stephen Hodgson, the interim chief financial officer for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
The CFO presented a list of potential cost-saving measures during the Board of Education’s meeting on Thursday night. The budget cuts will be discussed in further detail during a workshop this Wednesday.
As it stands, the district is expected to bring in approximately $75.2 million in revenues next year, but expend about $78.2 million.
The total savings of increasing class sizes in the kindergarten through third grade levels was not made available during the meeting.
With declining enrollment projected over the next few years, due primarily to the district’s ban on new non-resident students, it will be necessary to align staffing with enrollment levels, Hodgson said.
“We have the same staffing as four years ago when we had 900 additional students,” Hodgson said.
The district’s enrollment next year is projected to drop by 158 students, by another 164 students the following year, and another 181 students by the 2009- 10 school year. Along with changes in staffing levels in kindergarten through third grade, Hodgson is also recommending examining the student-to-teacher ratios in grades four through 12. The goal is to reduce teaching positions by 31 FTE in kindergarten through 12th grade next year.
Doing so could save the district about $5 million over the next three years.
Currently, the student-to-teacher ratios in grades six through 12 are below the level outlined in the Santa Monica- Malibu Classroom Teachers Association contract with the district, giving school officials some breathing room.
California has one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios in the country, according to Harry Keiley, the president of the district’s teacher’s union.
Considering that enrollment is one of the biggest sources of revenue, the school board should begin having discussions about its definition of “capacity,” and have a better sense of their ideal enrollment level by the next budget season, board member Emily Bloomfield said.
Unlike other school districts, Santa Monica-Malibu has the luxury to “turn on and off the spigot,” she said.
Another way the district could consider lowering student-to-teacher ratio is by examining those elective classes whose enrollment levels are perennially in the single to low double digits, said board member Jose Escarce. The board could then consider cutting some of the non-core classes whose enrollment levels are constantly low.
“I think there must be districts that have policies around what the minimum class size or section size ought to be to offer a course,” Escarce said.
The Board of Education is scheduled to continue its budget session on April 25 at 6 p.m., at the district headquarters, 1651 16th Street.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 21, 2007. Read the original PDF.