School Board Discusses Second Grade Crowding and New Communication Procedure

Superintendant Robyne Thompson speaks at last night's meeting

Students are feeling a little squeezed in some of the classrooms in East Lansing Elementary schools and the administration may be forced to move some students to ease the pressure.

Dr. Robyne Thompson, Superintendent, told the East Lansing Board of Education Monday night that second grade classroom levels have “exploded” this year, especially at Pinecrest and Marble schools.

Recommended class sizes are 22 students per class for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten; 24 students for first and second grades; 28 students for third and fourth; and 30 students per class for fifth through 12^th grades.

“We are monitoring the class sizes every day,” Dr. Thompson told the board. “Most elementary class sizes are below the recommended amount… (but) we are having to watch second grade closely.”

Dr. Thompson said they would need to make a decision to reduce the classes within 15 days of the first day of school. Possible solutions include adding an additional classroom at Marble, because there is space available in the school.

However, there is no space for an additional second grade at Pinecrest, which means some students may be moved to another elementary school.

“That is not ideal but it is what it is,” said Dr. Thompson.

In addition, there was a higher than anticipated kindergarten enrollment at Whitehills Elementary. In that school, administrators have converted a storage room into an additional kindergarten space, moving their science equipment to storage space at Donley Elementary.

In the middle school, core classes currently have between 20-32 students and in high school, the class size is 24-31 students. Dr. Thompson said one class that has been surprisingly popular in the high school has been the Spanish language classes.

“Those classes are being adjusted to fall below 30 students,” she said.

Dr. Thompson also outlined a new Parent/Guardian and Community Concern Procedure for the board. Using a model from the Farmington school district, Dr. Thompson created a structure in which parents could address issues with the school system, not including student discipline concerns which have a separate procedure outlined in the student handbook.

In the new procedure, parents would first attempt to resolve the issue with the teacher and then the principal. The first step would be a parent/guardian contacting the “specific person to provide that person an opportunity to collaborate with you toward a resolution.” If the issue is not resolved, the school has five business days to set up a meeting between the parent/guardian, the teacher and an assistant principal.

“If the issues are not resolved at a building level, then ELPS staff is expected to contact the parent/guardian,” Dr. Thompson said.

Once it reaches the administration level, the parent would first meet with an “appropriate school district director to complete the problem solving process and resolve the concern.” The final step would be to meet with the Superintendent or her designee.

The new procedure will be available on the district website and includes a form that the school must fill out if they are unable to resolve the problem in-house.

“This will allow us to follow trends that I need to address. That is the ultimate purpose,” Dr. Thompson said. “This also directs parents to the best person to answer their questions.”

Board President Nell Kuhnmuench clarified that the new procedure does not mean that a parent needs permission to discuss an issue with a teacher or a principal. It simply gives the school a schedule of actions to address the issue.

Present: Erin Graham, Kath Edsall, Yasmina Bouraoui, President Nell Kuhnmuench, Superintendent Robyne Thompson, Karen Hoene, Kate Powers and Hillary Henderson.