‘Smaller classes boost scores’

GLENDALE — Kelly Schroeder is one of many teachers throughout the Glendale Unified School District who has helped raise elementary school test scores, and she has done it with 36 students in her classroom.

But if she taught in the Burbank Unified School District, that total would be closer to 30 students.

The difference in class sizes might seem small, but it has had a big effect on classroom environments and on budgets, teachers and officials said.

While Burbank Unified’s student-to-teacher ratio in the fourth and fifth grades is 30-to-1, Glendale Unified’s average for the same grades is 34-to-1, according to school accountability reports. The different approaches have left one district with a leaner instructional staff and budget while the other may lay off some of its teachers to help cut costs.

Both districts receive state grants to reduce class sizes from kindergarten through third grade. Classes then jump from 20 students in those grades to as many as 36 in fourth or fifth grade.

Average class sizes in both districts’ middle and high schools are about the same, although the difference in class sizes in elementary schools makes a difference in funding, officials said.

Glendale Unified’s larger class sizes, and subsequent smaller teaching staff, have likely contributed to its $21.3-million reserve total that will allow it to forgo teacher layoffs altogether, Supt. Michael Escalante said.

“That’s what’s kept us solvent, is being responsible and staffing to the numbers that we believe are appropriate for our budget,” Escalante said.

Burbank Unified has emphasized smaller class sizes because of the teaching benefits brought about by the more intimate atmosphere, said Joel Shapiro, deputy superintendent for the district.

“Teachers who are in the classrooms certainly know this, and I think others working in education certainly believe that if classes get beyond a certain size, it simply becomes harder to provide the attention that students need,” he said.

But now the district is in a position where it will have to find opportunities for savings in its budget, which could include laying off teachers, Shapiro said.

With salaries and benefits making up more than 85% of most school district budgets, class sizes can play a large role in driving up expenses or padding reserves, he said.