Class-Size Reduction Effort Proves a Success

With a little ingenuity and a lot of help from parents, the Orange Unified School District was able to report to the state this month that nearly all of its schools have cut first- and second-grade class sizes to 20 students.

The statewide effort to shrink class sizes has been overwhelmingly popular. But in districts with older buildings and surging enrollment, finding the space can be a monumental headache, said Neil McKinnon, assistant superintendent.

In Orange, officials decided to divvy up state money and let schools decide--with parents--what they were willing to give up to achieve smaller class sizes, McKinnon said.

“We have been able to do some clever things,” he said. “I think we have better community support and parent participation now than we’ve ever had. That’s been a good byproduct of the program.”