ANAHEIM : Kindergarten Classes Too Big, Teachers Say
Two dozen kindergarten teachers urged the Anaheim City School District this week to change a new district policy that will force teachers to supervise up to 65 children.
Teachers told the school board Tuesday night that two teachers together watching over as many as 65 5-year-olds will cause confusion and cut into valuable classroom time. Teachers said they would lose the equivalent of four weeks of instruction a year.
The change also might pose safety risks, teachers said. With so many students, teachers said they would have difficulty evacuating a classroom in case of an emergency.
To accommodate bus schedules, administrators said, kindergarten classes have to be combined for 20 minutes each school day. The busing timetables were revised this year to cope with the district’s growing student population, administrators said.
Administrators say that with so many activities available for the children such as the library, recess or lunch, teachers would rarely have to seat two classes together, Deputy Supt. Mary Ellen Blanton said.
More than 80 kindergarten teachers and about 2,500 students are affected.
Blanton said the administration will seek a compromise with the teachers.
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