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Nearly 300G to reduce class size — and it increased!
May 8, 2008 11:27 AM
PS/IS 71 in District 8 used to be a high-functioning, well-regarded neighborhood school, according to Chapter Leader Carol Griffin. But that was before Principal Lance Cooper decided to shoe-horn a “prep academy” of 7th- and 8th-graders into the building.
“He wanted to have a pre-K-through-8 school, but when the academy expanded to the 8th grade this year we absolutely did not have the capacity,” Griffin said. Early-grade class sizes rose from 20 or 22 to 28 or 29; kindergartens were all “maxed out,” she said. Two libraries and even a shower room became classrooms; speech services were provided in the corridors and the school is on triple session.
Now here’s the catch: according to the Department of Education budget, PS/IS 71 received $294,437 to reduce class size this year. It is one of more than 100 schools that received $50,000 or more in targeted class-size reductions but actually increased class sizes this year, according to a UFT analysis. In the case of PS/IS 71, average class sizes rose by more than five students per class.
Griffin said that, despite the contractual and legal provisions requiring it, the principal does not discuss the school budget with her or with the School Leadership Team.
“He was never a collaborative-type person,” she said, and she does not know how he allocated the money.
PS/IS 71 staffing is confusing. Griffin said substitute teachers — sometimes in classrooms for just two hours a day — may count toward class-size reduction. And the principal may have inaccurately reported other assignments. According to a UFT review, one new teacher was programmed as receiving mentoring and was listed as a mentor at the same time.
All of which raises a question. Was class-size reduction ever even a plan at PS/IS 71 this year?
