A state-funded program to reduce class sizes for the youngest of public-school students has resulted in a badly needed infusion of money for West Marin schools, but for some, it may be more trouble than it's worth.
"The money is a godsend for us," said Dani Tarry, principal of West Marin School, which is part of Shoreline School District. "Our classes were already small and the program was easy to implement.
"We have 20 students or fewer across the board here," Tarry said, "except for one second [and] third grade combination-bilingual class for which we'll hire a part-time teacher. But the state money is helping us to keep our classes small, which we've worked hard at doing for the past three years."
Inverness School, also part of Shoreline, has similarly enjoyed a smooth transition. "Luckily, we didn't have any adjusting to do. We came into this year with exactly 20 students in each of our three [kindergarten and first-grade] classes," said Inverness School teacher Pam Campe.
"I have the opportunity to supervise my students' reading and writing more closely, which is very important at their age," Campe said. "I also have more time now to work with parents, so the overall quality of the children's education has improved."
That's exactly what state legislators were hoping for last summer when they passed a bill that promised each district in California $650 per student for every kindergarten through third-grade class with 20 students or fewer.
First- and second-grade classrooms get priority for the funding. Kindergarten and third grade are next in line. The goal is to attack the basic skills - reading, writing, and math - and allow teachers the time to target the individual strengths and weaknesses of their pupils.
In all, the bill pledges $771 million to better the state's elementary-school education. To meet the newly created demand for more space, a related bill has provided another $200 million to build new classrooms.
Districts are required to have the class sizes down to 20 by mid-February to be allowed to keep the money.
"We're quite happy with the program," said Jeff Pflugrath, superintendent and principal of the 70-student Nicasio School District. "It's worked out very smoothly."
He said the transition "was quite easy for us. Traditionally, we had a classroom combination of [kindergarten through second grade], grades three through five, and grades six through eight."
Pflugrath said he simply divided the youngest group, increased the hours of one of his half-time teachers, and used an available portable classroom to accommodate the extra class. "Now we have 14 students in the K-1 room and 13 in the second-grade room," he said.
Thanks to the new arrangement, longtime teacher Martha McNeil has been able to introduce more small-group projects. "Last year I had 25 students, now I have about half," she said. "We're able to do more hands-on stuff. We've worked on the human-body science kit and expect to do some meteorology in January."
Best of all, she added, "we have more time to work with the students. We get to know where they are," she said.
While the class-size-reduction program has been a gift for Nicasio and Shoreline school districts, it hasn't been embraced quite as tightly at Lagunitas and Bolinas school districts, where educators fear their carefully crafted, progressive programs might be upset.
"We're taking a wait-and-see attitude," said Darci Hammond, principal of Lagunitas District's elementary programs. "We don't want the program to encroach upon our educational goals."
Hammond said she worries that meeting the requirements of all this class-shrinking could tangle the district's three distinct academic programs - Montessori, Academics and Enrichment, and the Open Classroom.
"We already do have small classes and small groups," she said. "I just hope the state program won't cause us to change our teaching approaches."
Parent David Picchi is more optimistic. "I don't see it as a threat to the Montessori Program," he said. "It can only increase the opportunities for students and teachers."
A majority of parents with children in the two other study programs also approved of the state's offer. Responding to a district survey last fall, parents involved in all three programs voted in support of the district's application for the state funding.
A kindergarten through second grade combination class has been created at the district's San Geronimo campus and a first through third grade combination class was established at the Lagunitas School site. Two additional fulltime teachers will be hired to help carry the load.
If the class-size-reduction program continues in the long term, the district will consider building an on-campus yurt. Eventually, the district may need to hire more teachers and create more space, Hammond said.
"We'll need higher per-pupil funding to make the program self-sustaining" in the future, she added.
Bob Balzan, superintendent of Bolinas-Stinson School District, shared Hammond's concerns: "We have to look at it in terms of its overall impact on our educational program - our curriculum, facilities, maintenance, and staff development."
The district has been slow to begin implementing the state program. "We're interviewing candidates for two shared positions, each half-time, to teach math and reading for both the first-through-fifth-grade combination class at the [Bolinas] campus and the second through third grade combination at the Stinson campus," Balzan said.
He added that he doubts the state funding will cover the cost of small classes for long: "It will take from $800-$850 per student per year to keep the program going. We want to ensure that all our students are served equitably. It would be nice to have more flexibility with the state money in terms of the schools' needs."
State Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni, whose district includes West Marin, told The Light Tuesday that she expects class-reduction funding to continue, "but schools will probably need between $750-$800 per student to fully implement the program...
"Right now, schools are having to come up with their own money to cover the extra costs."
Mazzoni, who on Wednesday was appointed chair of the Assembly's Education Committee, said "the facilities issue is the biggest issue. Statewide, we needed 20,000 new teachers. I'm going to address all of these issues when the Legislature reconvenes in January."
The program has rewarded West Marin's three one-room school districts - Laguna, Lincoln, and Union - for simply being tiny.
The districts at first thought they were too small to qualify for the money, but an accountant at the Marin County Office of Education decided to apply anyway. As a result, the three schools received a total of $18,200 without having to change a thing.
Union School just south of Petaluma has West Marin's best ratio of students to teachers - seven to one.