A group of Ocean Shores Elementary School teachers and parents stood in unison before the North Beach School Board on Tuesday to bring attention to overcrowded classrooms, particularly in the fifth grade.
The School Board responded by calling for a special meeting this Tuesday Jan. 23 to “consider a budget extension for additional staffing.”
“The Board does hear you, and we do take these comments to heart,” said Board member Linda Poplin.
The meeting on Jan. 16 became emotional toward the end of the regular session during the public comment session.
Fifth-grade teacher Kelly Eddy told the board her class continues to grow in size, now at 38, causing even the students to notice how it impacts their instruction and ability to learn. There are 34 in another class.
“In the three or four months, you have heard from our principal, community members and parents about class sizes,” Eddy told the board as about 20 other teachers, parents and support staff stood with the teacher as she began her remarks.
“This year is different, as every school year is different, but I don’t even know where to begin this year. I pride myself on knowing every student’s first and last name by day one. Now, I am in January, and sometimes I struggle to remember a fist name, and definitely a last name,” Eddy said.
Every day brings new academic and behavioral challenges, she said. She tried to take a photo of the full class, but could not fit everyone into the frame.
“What I can tell you is 22 students are below grade level in math,” said Eddy, a teacher in the district since 2006.
The classroom itself could be considered unsafe, she said, with just one aisle that is single-person only: “This classroom is packed and is extremely difficult for movement. I am very worried for the safety of these children if there is an actual emergency.”
Although some part-time staff has been assigned, it is not enough to cover the current number of students at that grade level, she and others said. Even with part-time help, “we will never have less grading or less report cards to prepare, or less parent contact to make.”
“We will have more students to reach, more students to help achieve academic mastery,” Eddy said, questioning why not divide the 72 students into smaller classes by adding a teacher at Ocean Shores.
“Friday, when I informed the class that we would be getting another student on Tuesday, I received groans,” she noted. “I was asked the question, ‘Miss Eddy, where are you going to put another one of us?’”
Longtime school supporter and volunteer Joann Sutter spoke on behalf of Eddy and the other Ocean Shores teachers.
“Most of us who work with them have taken kids ourselves so that we can help out, but it’s not enough,” Sutter said.
“We have to ask, what’s best for kids?”
“I know in my heart that everybody is trying to do the right things,” Sutter added. “I know these teachers and I see the stress and the fear that they can’t get these kids to where they need to be.”
Parent Deborah Thomas said she specifically moved to the area to allow her children to go to a smaller school that they previously experienced in the Seattle area 14 years ago. She has students in Eddy’s class and in the sixth grade class with 34 students.
When she found out another student was being added to Eddy’s class, her daughter asked: “Mom, how can they keep doing this?”
“She’s angry, she’s very angry, because she can’t get the attention she needs and that other students need from Miss Eddy,” Thomas said.
The special Board meeting on Tuesday will be at 5:30 p.m. at North Beach High School. At the Jan. 16 meeting, only three members were in attendance to hear the remarks about overcrowding. Scott Sage and Doreen Cato were absent.
