Trustees to Consider Shrinking Class Sizes

Taking action on an issue that has captivated educators across California, the Simi Valley school board will decide tonight whether to reduce class size for its youngest students.

If trustees opt to diminish class size for the district’s nearly 3,000 first- and second-graders, they will then have to grapple with how to pay for and find room for smaller classes.

Like other school districts statewide, Simi Valley has a compelling interest to shrink its primary classes by mid-February: state incentive money.

For each school district that pares classes to 20 or fewer students by the deadline, the state will pay $650 per student from a $771-million pot.

The Simi Valley Unified School District--which would need to hire between 57 and 68 new teachers for the smaller classes--will have to cover an estimated $740,000 to $1.2-million difference for the program.

The state allocated an additional $200 million to purchase or lease facilities for the smaller classes, but Simi Valley does not anticipate needing more portable classrooms.

With school starting Sept. 5, the district has little time to spare in finding and hiring the necessary teachers--at about $39,000 each for salary and benefits--it will need for the smaller classes. But Dave Kanthak, the assistant superintendent for business services, said hiring should not be a problem, because there are substitute teachers who have long yearned for full-time work.

To make room for the smaller classes, principals at each of the district’s 19 elementary schools will consider options, including moving computers from a centralized lab to individual classes; shifting kindergarten or sixth-grade classes to other schools with more space, and having teachers share classrooms.