Huntington Beach : English Classes to Be Cut in Size Next Year

English classes will be reduced in size next year at the seven high schools in the Huntington Beach Union High School District.

The district’s board of trustees this week voted to spend about half of its $1.8-million share of state lottery money for the current year on the goal of class reduction.

“Reducing class size is our No. 1 priority in the district,” said trustee David Warfield. “We focused on English classes because, first, smaller English classes is a concern of the Legislature.

“Second, English classes are labor-intensive for the teachers. They must spend hours grading the written assignments. A reduction of four students can save a teacher maybe an hour or more time in having fewer papers to grade.”

Warfield said the district plans to reduce the average English class size from 32 students to 28. He said smaller English classes would encourage teachers to give more written assignments to students.

The district governs Edison High School, Huntington Beach High, Marina High, Ocean View High, Fountain Valley High, Westminster High and Wintersburg High.

The impact of $850,000 voted for class-size reduction will be immediately noticeable because it is targeted on one subject, Warfield said.

If the district tried to reduce all classes, regardless of subject matter, he added, the money would barely have allowed a decrease of one student per class.