Reduce class sizes in Forest Grove School District!

Dear Yvonne Curtis;

Pursuant to Forest Grove School District Policy KL-AR regarding the procedure for Public Complaints, I am hereby presenting our formal claim of complaint regarding the proposed resolution for addressing class sizes in the Forest Grove School District.  As per Policy KL-AR, this complaint is provided to the superintendent, as “complaints alleging violation of standards for public elementary and secondary schools shall be presented to the superintendent.  Such complaints shall ultimately be documented in writing and signed.”

According to the Oregon Administrative Rules Standards for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools it is the school district’s responsibility to “maintain class sizes and teacher assignments which promote effective practices consistent with the outcomes expected of each instructional program” (OAR 581-022-1630).  The Forest Grove School District further adopted its own policy stating that the class sizes for grades K-3 shall average 22-26 students, and grades 4-5 shall average 25-30.  As of September 9^th, 71% of our children were in classes that do not comply with that policy.

Of the 1,698 students in Forest Grove School District elementary schools, 1,208 students are in classes that do not conform to the school districts own policy.  71% of our students are in a classroom that is not sized to promote good outcomes.  These numbers do not include kindergarten numbers for the district, as those numbers were not available at the time of this writing, but the general understanding is that the situation there is no different.

This problem will not be resolved by taking from one class to help another; the problem is district wide. By failing to allocate funding to support additional teaching aids and new teacher positions, the district is not meeting its responsibility under OAR 581-022-1630. 

Funds are available to solve this problem.  Gain Share funds of $362,882 were earmarked for class size reductions, and over $2 million is available between the “Unappropriated Fund Balance” and the “Contingency” budget items in the current budget.

The superintendent might argue that the Gain Share funds are not a sustainable form of revenue and cannot be used for operating expenses, such as teachers.  The complainant will counter that three and a half teachers for one year is better than none, and that Gain Share funds were specifically designated to serve this purpose.  Teachers should be hired and various budget items can be reconsidered at the next budget cycle to determine how those positions can be retained.

Furthermore, according to lease paperwork signed by Apple Inc and the Forest Grove School District, the iPad “pilot” is not funded by a grant and will cost the district $500,000 in leases alone over its two year duration.  Given the superintendent’s assertion that funding is too unpredictable and unsustainable to make long term changes, it is surprising that there is money in the budget for such an expensive, unproven, poorly documented, pilot program.  The district should consider if this experiment is worth the expense, and if it directly supports the priority to reduce class sizes.

Furthermore, the OAR Standard not only mandates appropriate class sizes, but also to “maintain…teacher assignments” (emphasis added).  This indicates that the current direction to school administrators to shuffle teachers’ assignments two months into the school year may be in direct violation of the mandate to promote effective practices.  The board and the superintendent should seriously consider if they have made every attempt to meet school standards.

Source of your information

School board proceedings, meetings, minutes, and documentation, including lease paperwork and district budget.

If a complaint, remedy sought

• Superintendent shall immediately request the board to approve the use of Gain Share funds, the “Unappropriated Funds Balance”, and/or funds designated as “Contingency” to hire new teachers, as necessary to reduce class sizes with minimal disruption to students and classrooms.  Hire those teachers necessary not later than October 22, 2013.


• If funds identified in the previous bullet are not available or sufficient, hold emergency meetings to re-evaluate all costs in the budget to determine where cuts can be made to bring class sizes down until the problem is resolved.  This is to include reevaluation of the iPad “pilot”, which the lease indicates is cancellable if the board decides that funding is not approved.


• Superintendent shall make class size a priority for future years and identify methods for estimating teacher requirements sooner, to minimize the need for changes after the school year has started.  This method shall be presented at a future board meeting for consideration and approval of the board, not later than January 31, 2014.