Schools
Parents Demand More Teachers at Schools
Some classrooms have average class sizes of 30 or more students in Anne Arundel County Public Schools. The county average for fifth-grade classes is 24.75.
Larger class sizes are a concern throughout the county and parents from addressed the school board on Wednesday, pleading to lower the teacher to student ratio in their fifth-grade classrooms.
Parent Denise Walsh said she had done a survey, and concluded that fifth-grade classrooms have between 30 and 32 students in them. Walsh said that placed extra demand on teachers to manage the classroom, leaving less time to teach.
“Our teachers can handle it, but they shouldn’t have to be triaging every day,” Walsh said.
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Walsh said larger classrooms aren’t as efficient, and some students feel lost in the crowd.
Madeline Scheerer, another parent, called the ratio “a disgrace.”
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“Teachers are trying to cope with it, but they’re only human beings. They can only do so much,” Scheerer said.
But more teachers mean more money. Anne Arundel County Public Schools' (AACPS) operating budget, which includes teacher salaries, is scheduled to be unveiled in December.
The council and the school system are likely to butt heads over that number this year more than others, because AACPS Superintendent Dr. Kevin Maxwell and his staff have indicated they will be asking for additional teacher salaries, something they’ve held off on requesting for three years. During that time, the school system has grown by 3,000 students.
Board members did not respond to the parents comments. However, they have been vocal about reviewing the teacher to student ratio across the school system.
The administration has made comments on the issue of the ratio in the past weeks. Maxwell said at an August school board meeting that he didn’t see any way around asking for more teachers. And Schools Chief Operating Officer Alex Szachnowicz addressed the Anne Arundel County Council in August, saying they would be , either in this budget year or the next.
“There’s going to be a breaking point,” he said.
According to an email from AACPS spokesman Bob Mosier, the average fifth-grade class size is 24.75 students. Mosier added that of the 78 elementary schools in the county, Belvedere is one of six schools with more than 30 students in fifth-grade classes.
Editor's note: This story was modified from a previous version to include a response from Anne Arundel County Public Schools and to clarify the average class size of fifth-grade students in the county.