Small class size has long been considered a benchmark of quality in education, but are K-12 classes in WW-P getting crowded? West Windsor-Plainsboro school board members now say higher class sizes appear imminent as budget constraints combined with fewer teacher layoffs could create more congested classrooms.
At the board meeting on Tuesday, January 24, the first of several presentations on the annual budget was made by Superintendent Victoria Kniewel and Board Secretary Larry Shanok. Total enrollment is down slightly, at 9,840 this year compared to 9,842 in 2010-’11. The district has tallied its official class sizes and submitted the numbers to the state for certification, but until New Jersey’s department of education confirms the figures WW-P cannot disclose them to the public. Full details are expected to be part of budget presentations made in February and March, says Shanok.
But one problem may have surfaced already. Data shown at the meeting indicated that WW-P has the second-highest student to teacher ratio of area school districts, with 13.1 students to every one teacher. In contrast Trenton and Hamilton each have 12.9, Ewing has 11.8, Lawrence has 11.7, Hopewell has 11.6 and Princeton has 11.1. Only the East Windsor Regional School District, with 13.2, has a higher ratio than WW-P.
On January 17 new West Windsor Councilman Bryan Maher commented on class sizes at Dutch Neck Elementary, which his youngest child attends.
“I know that we only have limited input on school issues but I was disheartened to hear that at Dutch Neck, my understanding is that several classes are now at a class size of 27 children. Since we pride ourselves on how great our school system is I think that this is somewhat unacceptable. There should be some answers there,” he said.
In the 2010-’11 school year class sizes at Dutch Neck were significantly lower. Kindergarten was listed as 18.8 students per class; first grade at 23.3; second grade at 21.1; and third grade at 23.8.
The official class size numbers for this year will be discussed at upcoming board meetings, according to Shanok and board member Robert Johnson, chairman of the board’s administration and facilities committee.
In the budget presentation one year ago projections were made for 2011-’12 that did not calculate significant increases to those numbers. Kindergarten was expected to stay at 18.8 and first grade was expected to rise slightly to 23.75. Meanwhile, second grade at Dutch Neck was expected to rise to 22.2, with a projection of 11 fewer students enrolled and one fewer section, while third grade was projected to add a full section as enrollment was anticipated to go up from 190 to 215, with marginally higher class sizes.
At Maurice Hawk second graders were also expected to be a growth leader, as it anticipates adding one more section and an average class size of 23.3, up from 22.7. Class sizes and enrollment in all other grades at Hawk were expected to decrease, however. At Town Center Elementary second grade enrollment was projected to decrease by 17 students from 2010-’11 to 2011-’12, but third grade was expected to add 21 more students and add another section to maintain a similar class size of 22 students.
The highest class size reported in WW-P last school year was Millstone River School’s fifth grade with 26.1. Projections for this year listed the fifth grade as having 25.2 students per class.
Maher said the climbing numbers were an example of an issue he raised in the course of his campaign for town council.
“When we build all these apartments and townhouses and we do variances, we say things are okay and developers tell us the properties won’t impact the schools, it’s a little bit of BS. I think these students are coming from the apartments along Clarksville and I think the school system should have been prepared for that. I think that this is an unacceptable situation and I think as we move forward, council really needs to think about what we are doing and what the impact would be on our schools,” Maher says.
