Rose Tree Elementary Parents Voice Concerns with Class Size

Several Rose Tree Elementary parents created a petition and voiced concerns over increased class size, particularly in the 3rd grade, at the Rose Tree Media Board of School Directors meeting on Thursday. 

RTM Superintendent Jim Wigo responded to the parents' concerns publicly and said the increase in class size would not disrupt the student's education or development. 

Last week, parents created a petition saying the increase from 16 to 24 students per class in the 3rd grade at Rose Tree Elementary was not acceptable. The class size needed to be reduced by hiring an extra teacher and creating another section for the grade level, according to the petition. 

The petition states that research has proven that a smaller class size increases student achievement, increases test scores, reduces drop out rates and increases college attendance. 

The petition had 65 signatures as of Friday afternoon. 

On Thursday, a few parents voiced the same concerns to Wigo and the RTM school board. 

Steve Marsh, a Rose Tree Elementary parent, asked how the administration concluded that the class size increase from 16 to 24 students was needed in the 3rd grade and could the decision be reversed. 

Wigo said the class size issue has been a district-wide issue for some time and has been debated in all grade levels. 

Based on district research and polls with "look alike" districts, the industry standard for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades was close to 25 students or a little higher, Wigo said. 

"We agree that the ideal class size is one-to-one and you start losing effectiveness with every student who is added to that one," Wigo said. "But we have no evidence that our students who are in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades with 25 or 23 students have suffered at all relative to their performance and developmental growth in reading and mathematics." 

He said there would need to be an increase in the current population of 3rd grade before a recommendation would be made to the board to hire another 3rd grade teacher. 

Wigo has recommended to the board that a lower class size in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades be maintained and then allow that class size to increase in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. 

Bruce Mackenzie, a Rose Tree Elementary parent, asked why parents were not informed earlier of the increase in class size, rather than weeks prior to the start of school. 

Wigo said the school lost a teacher through retirement or resignation who was not replaced. 

"When we looked at class sizes earlier in the summer, it looked as those the 3rd grade at Rose Tree was going to be reasonable for our expectation of class size," Wigo said. 

He said the administration monitors class size almost daily as far as registration and students who leave the district.