"The thing the district really needs to pay attention to, relative to the suggestion coming from PCAC, is to continue to do what it always does, and that is to review the composition of classes and the ability of the teacher to deal with the diverse classroom. Sometimes 10 students to one teacher is too many, if we get a difficult combination of students and a teacher that's not equipped to deal with those issues.
"Are there instances in the district where we have some classrooms that are bigger than we'd like them? Yes. And we do everything we can to mitigate that. And if we've learned anything from the (PCAC) report, it's make sure you pay attention to the size of classrooms, and the quality of instruction in the classroom as it relates to the size."
The Boise School Board meets about twice a month during the school year. Monday's meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Edward L. Davis District Services Center, 8169 W. Victory Road.
To Gale Zickefoose, principal of Horizon Elementary School in west Boise, less is more when it comes to class size.
"There's research out there that says the best ratio is one adult to one student," said Zickefoose, who used to teach sixth grade. "So the closer you get to one-to-one, the better."
Large class sizes are well known in districts such as Meridian, which has seen a population and enrollment explosion in the past few years. But it also is a problem in some classes in Boise, where guidelines allow for even more students in a class.
Monday, a community group that monitors the Boise School District will ask the School Board to set new guidelines. The Parent-Community Advisory Council wants the district to limit classes to just 20 students in kindergarten through grade three and to 26 for grades four through six.
That is what the state Department of Education recommends. Right now, Boise's guidelines call for no more than 23 students in kindergarten and first grade, 26 in grades two and three and 32 in grades four through six.
Some classes are larger than that. But Boise district officials maintain Boise's classes are smaller than most in the state.
"What we want is more classrooms and more teachers," said Tani Theiler, president of the 80-member PCAC. "There are definitely schools that are maxed out."
PCAC chose class size as its highest priority for policy change this year. The group did extensive research on class sizes around the nation. In a report, the group said almost half the states in the country have recently reduced class sizes to increase educational quality. About five years ago, the Boise School District estimated it would cost $30 million to $35 million to reduce class sizes to 22 for grades K through sixth grade, Curriculum Director Don Coberly said.
PCAC didn't calculate the cost of meeting its recommendations.
"We understand it's a budget issue at this point," Theiler said. "We're just asking the trustees to go out and look at it and review the policy, walk in those classrooms and see what is going on."
Almost a decade ago, Congress authorized $1.2 billion to reduce class sizes around the nation. Now some states mandate class ratios as low as 15 students per teacher, PCAC said.
PCAC didn't find problems with class sizes in Boise's upper grades. But at some elementary schools, teachers have too many students to teach effectively, Theiler said.
"That's the way Longfellow is this year," said Theiler, whose son is in sixth grade at that North End elementary school. "She is an awesome teacher but you can't even move in that room without tripping every time you go in there."
The increasing ethnic and economic diversity of Boise's student body complicates matters, said PCAC Vice President Megan Reichle, who has two children at Trail Wind Elementary School in southeast Boise. The number of non-English-speaking students grows each year, and Boise's low-income population has doubled in the past decade, increasing the challenges in the classroom.
Superintendent Stan Olson doesn't see class size as being as much of a problem PCAC does. In presentations to PCAC, district officials have said Boise started the school year with an average of 23 children in each elementary classroom.
"The reality is our class size, if it's not the smallest in the state, is among the two or three districts that have the smallest," Olson said.
But Theiler said that number hides the fact that some schools, such as Longfellow and Horizon, have classes of 32 while several others have plenty of extra room. Whittier Elementary in central Boise has only 18 in its sixth grade class this year.
"That doesn't happen every year," Whittier Principal Debby Bailey said.
Zickefoose has a gifted and talented classroom at Horizon with just 11 students, and three fifth-grade classrooms with 32 students each. Many gifted and talented classes are smaller than regular classes. The four highly gifted classes at Collister Elementary in Northwest Boise have between 11 and 15 children each, said Principal Bruce Herron.
Olson said district policy is to bus students to other schools if the classes at their school exceed the limits. But few families want to make that change.
"What we're asking for is, when you reach 32, hire another teacher and get another classroom," Theiler said. "Maybe you'll only have two classrooms of 18 for a while. Don't bus those kids away from where they want to be."
Parents seem to agree with PCAC that smaller is better. Reichle will bring a petition with 66 signatures from her school to the board meeting Monday.
But Olson said teacher quality, not class size, is crucial.
"It's much more a discussion of teacher preparation and support than size," he said. "That's honestly been played out in 75 years of research around the country with minor, minor exceptions."
Reachael O'Harra said there are just 17 children in her first-grader's class at Maple Grove in Southwest Boise. Like Zickefoose and PCAC, she thinks smaller is better.
"The teachers have more opportunity to deal with the different needs of individual students," she said.
O'Harra said she would be willing to pay higher taxes to reduce class sizes. But, she added, "I have kids in school. My neighbor that doesn't have kids, I'm sure they're going to say no."
Anne Wallace Allen: 377-6433
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