By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — A proposal seeking to update the school system’s class size policy is headed back to the drawing board.
School Committee Vice Chair Stacy Dahlstedt recalled during a Nov. 1 meeting that Policy IIB pertains to the district’s class size guidelines. The current policy recommends that kindergarten and first grade classes have between 18-22 students, with 18 being considered the “optimal number.” The policy recommends that second and third grade classes have between 20-23 students, with 20 being considered the “optimal number.”
Policy IIB currently recommends that fourth through sixth grade classes include between 20 and 24 students, with 20 being considered the “optimal number.” The policy recommends that class sizes for grades 7-12 be “reasonable.”
“Our current Class Size Policy, IIB, is from 2003,” said Dahlstedt. “It’s quite outdated. The Policy Subcommittee put a significant amount of thought and time into revising this policy. We also conducted considerable research with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and several local school districts.”
Dahlstedt said an MASC representative informed her that the association does not have class size policies in its policy manual.
“They believe this is at each district’s discretion, and that if a district has such a policy, it should purely be a guideline,” said Dahlstedt. “That being said, they also reinforced what we know from research and what is most influential in terms of student achievement is the teacher in front of the students, not the class size. We are fortunate to have outstanding teachers in Lynnfield, and to be a district that teachers want to teach in.”
Dahlstedt said the Policy Subcommittee, which consists of her and School Committee Chair Rich Sjoberg, is recommending that the class size guidelines be eliminated.
“Out of 14 local school districts whose policy manuals I combed through, only four have a class size policy,” said Dahlstedt. “Two of those districts’ policies are outdated like our current policy. One district is currently undergoing a review of its entire policy manual, so it will likely remove or update it, and one district has a policy like the one we are proposing. We recognize the importance of keeping class sizes at levels that support all our learners.”
Dahlstedt said it is “incumbent” for the School Committee, Superintendent Kristen Vogel and the Administrative Leadership Team to “continually look at ensuring our class sizes are meeting the needs of our students.”
Vogel said the proposed revised class size policy is “more reflective of the work” happening in the district.
“When we look at class sizes, we take them very seriously,” said Vogel. “This speaks to the process and what happens when we consider the learners in the classroom, the age of the children, the individual needs of students and the physical limitations in our buildings. I feel that this is more aligned to what has been happening in the district for many years.”
Sjoberg concurred with Vogel’s viewpoint.
“This absolutely takes into consideration who we are in Lynnfield and how we look at education in Lynnfield,” said Sjoberg.
School Committee member Jamie Hayman said having high quality educators is “the most important factor in student achievement.”
“There is a not a lot of research to support class size as it relates to student achievement,” said Hayman.
Hayman said he discussed the proposed class size policy change with Huckleberry Hill School Principal Melissa Wyland and Summer Street School Principal Karen Cronin.
“That was really helpful in terms of understanding where our students are and what our students’ needs are,” said Hayman. “I have said since I started that this policy is out of date. I think it gets us into trouble, especially with that ‘optimal number,’ because it is just unrealistic in today’s budget conditions.”
While Hayman said he supports eliminating the class size guidelines, he doesn’t want class sizes to steadily increase.
“I think we have an obligation to the community to explain where these decisions are coming from each year,” said Hayman. “I think that comes along with the budget process. I would propose that we review this every year during the budget process.”
Hayman also addressed some parents’ views that the $18 million elementary schools’ expansion project was needed to lower class sizes.
“The discussions about class size were not a promise to lower class sizes,” said Hayman. “The conversations we had where about the capacity of the schools at that given time. If you have 104 kids in a class and only four classrooms available, that would force you to have 26 kids in each class. That is not what we wanted. The purpose of the elementary schools’ expansion, based on where we saw the enrollment projections going, was as more families move in and we have more kids in the schools, we have space to put them in reasonably-sized classrooms.”
School Committee member Phil McQueen said a study undertaken by education researcher John Hattie in March revealed that high quality teaching practices and student interventions “have the most impact on student learning.”
“I was surprised to see that class size was really quite low on student achievement,” said McQueen. “It was from research on over 80,000 studies with 300 million students. We have very good teachers in Lynnfield who collectively work together to create great student outcomes.”
McQueen also supported Hayman’s recommendation that the class size policy be reviewed annually during the budget process.
“We don’t want to see these numbers creep up,” said McQueen. “This policy does seem to be very sensible and less arbitrary. As a teacher, I know there are times when classes are too big. But they can also be too small. Trying to build a learning community with only a few kids and having them interact effectively with each other, learn social skills and learn content becomes virtually impossible if you don’t have enough kids.”
While School Committee member Kate DePrizio called the revised policy “comprehensive,” she expressed concerns about how parents and guardians will react to the class size recommendations being eliminated.
“I worry that by taking away the table or some upper level limit, the perception will be we will just do what we want with this,” said DePrizio. “I agree with Jamie that there should be an annual review of this when we get to budget season.”
Dahlstedt agreed with Hayman, McQueen and DePrizio’s viewpoints that the class size policy should be “discussed and reviewed regularly.”
“It’s not meant to push people off and say we are not hearing you,” said Dahlstedt.
After the discussion, the School Committee agreed to revisit the class size policy.
During the public participation portion of the School Committee’s meeting that was held before the class size policy discussion, New Meadow Road resident Julie Coiteux aired concerns about the increasing number of students in kindergarten classes.
“In my opinion, smaller class sizes are always the best option for children,” said Coiteux. “Increasing the classroom size was upsetting to me when I heard the news. My son will be going into kindergarten at Summer Street next year. I wanted to voice my concern about that.”
Olde Towne Road resident Jessica Logrippo agreed.
“I am here to express the importance of smaller class sizes at the elementary school level,” said Logrippo. “As the parent of two young children in town and as an educator in a local school district, I feel having smaller class sizes should be a priority. I voted in favor of the school expansion projects specifically for this reason. I feel the benefits of smaller class sizes are clear and are well supported by research. When class sizes are small, it allows teachers the opportunity to provide supports tailored to each student’s individual needs. The benefits are exponential when the student-teacher ratio is smaller.”
There were over a dozen parents who attended the School Committee’s meeting, most of whom where there for the class size policy discussion.