Student Assignment Plan
The Student Assignment Plan provides information regarding class size by grade level and school across the district.
The Board of Education has set average class size targets at 24 students for Grades 1-3, 26 students for Grades 4-6, and 28 students for Grades 7-8 (for "core" classes—Literature, History, and Language Arts) for schools across the district.
The process for determining class sizes begins in early spring when the deputy superintendent projects enrollment for the following year by rolling current grade level enrollment up to the next grade level. To determine the number of classrooms allocated to each building, enrollment totals are divided by 24 for Grades 1-3, by 26 at Grades 4-6, and 28 at Grades 7-8. The numbers generated by these calculations form the starting point, not the final determination, in the ongoing process of determining how many classrooms each building will have. Principals take their total building allotment of classrooms back to their staff and engage in the shared decision-making process to determine how many classrooms will be at each grade level for the following year, taking programmatic placements* into consideration. The draft district Student Assignment Plan is then created for presentation to the Board of Education in June. Due to changes over the summer and into the first week of school, enrollment numbers are carefully monitored, starting with walk-in registration and up until the 6th-day statewide enrollment audit to determine if there are significant increases or decreases in enrollment that warrant changes in the number of classrooms. The final Student Assignment Plan is presented to the Board of Education in September.
It is important to note that individual classrooms may be below, at, or above the three grade band (1-3, 4-6, 7-8) target averages depending upon the outcome of the building's shared decision-making process. The administration and board of education makes every attempt to maintain class sizes at or below the board's targets while remaining fiscally responsible.
