Schools prepare for larger class sizes

GLENDALE — Teachers at Cerritos and Edison elementary schools would have to relocate some instructional supplies and lose storage space if Glendale Unified increases class sizes to handle projected state funding cuts, district officials said.

Both schools would be the tightest squeeze among the district’s 20 elementary campuses, and require rearranging some space to accommodate up to 30 students in every kindergarten through third-grade class, a cost-saving plan that board members are expected to approve Tuesday, officials said.

No campus will undergo construction to build new classrooms, nor will existing classrooms be remodeled to fit more students, district officials said. But Cerritos and Edison teachers will have to move some non-daily instructional material out of the classroom, and will operate without some existing storage rooms, which would be lost to free space for bigger classes.

“Cerritos and Edison will take the most thoughtful organization to make work,” said Scott Price, administrator of business services. “We thought [initially] we might have to do major moves or even possibly move libraries out to bungalows, [but] we found as we walked through the campus, there are other solutions.”

Accommodating more students means there will be fewer classrooms, and school sites will have to plan consolidations and room swapping, Price said.

“As we worked through the problem, we understood it wouldn’t be as comfortable as it was, but it’ll work,” he said.

Representatives from the Glendale Teachers Assn. said increasing class size is unnecessary because the district can spend its reserves through the short term.

“Teachers are incredibly concerned about it because smaller classes are better,” union Vice President Alicia Harris said. “It is going to amount to layoffs, and it will be the newer, enthusiastic teachers, and it’s a shame.”

Increasing class size is the only meaningful cost-cutting measure the district can implement, officials said. Imposing a 30-to-1 ratio would lower a projected $18.5-million deficit to $8.5 million in 2011-12.

Many elementary schools will be mostly unaffected, Price said. But parents are still unhappy with the plan for increased class sizes.