SEATTLE — A significant reshuffling of Seattle Public Schools (SPS) classrooms started on Monday.
Some students at about half of SPS will have a new teacher or classmates in split-level classrooms.
The split mixes students from different grades to keep up with the required student-to-teacher ratio.
“He really likes his teacher and has some of his best friends there, so there’s been some anxiety about the change,” Ellie Bly said.
Bly’s son is a fourth grader at Cedar Park Elementary. His class is now split with third graders.
“I do have some academic concerns,” Bly said. “Are they going to be able to meet the needs of the fourth graders if the third graders need more time of the teachers? I think they’ll do the best they can, but they can probably use some support with some paraeducators if they have to manage a wider ability level of needs in the classroom.”
Another parent of a fourth grader at the school said she’s not worried as much about the academic consequences, but more so about the social impact.
“He’s in fourth grade and of course he wants to hang out with other fourth graders,” Marisa Scalco said.
Jennifer Matter, president of the Seattle Education Association, said about 50 schools had to make adjustments. Matter said he gathered that information by talking with principals and teachers.
"I've spoken to educators last week and over the weekend, that either themselves they were crying or describing the staff crying and students crying as they were being informed of these changes,” Matter said. "It means they're starting all over day one building community with the new students."
Families at Cedar Park Elementary were notified last week.
"The teachers at Cedar Park are absolutely fantastic," said parent Stephen Smith. "They do such a good job. And if anybody could pull this off, I have faith that they could, but I think we're asking a lot of them. My biggest hope is that they somehow come up with some money that will allow us to fully staff our school and that in the long term. They prevent this from happening by changing the inflexible rules."
Cedar Park Elementary School PTA said they are among more than 40 schools that are experiencing the split classrooms.
SPS said split classrooms take place to maintain the required class size ratio for elementary school students.
The district said they are required to meet the 17 students to one teacher ratio, for kindergarten through third grade, to receive their full state funding.
According to SPS, a review showed that being out of line with the ratios could risk more than $3 million in funding.
“We recognize that staff and classroom assignment changes during the school year can cause anxiety and frustration for our families. We work with our district leadership and principals to minimize disruption and make adjustments as early in the school year as possible,” SPS said in a statement.
The district said the reshuffling is not a result of a state superintendent’s office audit, but rather the annual reporting process that all districts go through to comply with regulations for kindergarten through third-grade class sizes.
The split classrooms come as the district faces declining enrollment and a budget shortfall.