Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 4, 1994 TAG: 9410050040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With a smaller class, Main can give more attention to individual students, and there are fewer behavioral and discipline problems, she said.
The students also get to work on the computers longer, because there are fewer to share them.
"This is a situation where everyone wins," said Gary Galbreath, Garden City's principal.
Garden City is among 21 elementary schools in Roanoke that have benefited from nearly $1 million in state school-disparity funds. The money is used to reduce class sizes in schools with a high concentration of children from low-income families.
Educators say the individual attention in smaller classes in kindergarten through third grade helps at-risk students do better. Garden City students and teachers agree.
``It is easier to walk around the room, because there are fewers desks,'' said Becky Grant, a second-grade teacher. ``This also allows teachers to get to know the students and their families better.''
The students in Grant's class say there is less noise and their desks no longer are crunched together.
``It's quieter now, because there isn't so much talking,'' one student said.
Free and reduced-price lunches are considered to be an index of poverty and the number of at-risk children.
In schools where more than 50 percent of the students receive free or reduced-price lunches, the state requires a ratio of one teacher per 18 students.
In schools where the number of students qualifying for subsidized meals is between 25 and 50 percent, there must be no more than 20 students per teacher.
Garden City qualifies for the 18-to-1 ratio because 60 percent of its students receive free or reduced-price meals. In recent years, Garden City's ratio has been 22-to-1 or 23-to-1.
This year, the school received four additional teachers - three for the mandated smaller classes, and one for normal growth in the primary grades.
Garden City will have to use three modular classrooms to accommodate the smaller classes. The modular units have arrived and will be ready for use next week, Galbreath said.
In a temporary arrangement to provide smaller classes until then, three primary grades are meeting in the school's gymnasium. Portable partitions are being used to prevent noise from one class from disrupting another.
The teachers said the temporary arrangement has caused no major problems.
"This is wonderful. I can go faster, because I have fewer students to work with," said Sherri Easley, a third-grade teacher.
Before coming to Roanoke, Easley taught in Washington, D.C., where there were 25 to 30 students in a class.
Unlike many schools in the city, Garden City Elementary's enrollment has increased slightly in recent years and is now 344. The school has 15 classes for kindergarten through third grade.
The Garden City Parent-Teacher Association is pleased with the smaller classes and additional teachers.
"I haven't heard anything negative about it," said Libby Martin, PTA president. ``The parents like it.''
Modular classrooms also have been installed at Fallon Park and Westside elementary schools, where more than 50 percent of the students come from low-income families. Fallon Park and Westside are using modular classrooms.
Many other elementary schools also added teachers to reduce the student-teacher ratio, but they were not required to install modular classrooms. Some had vacant classrooms that are being used.
Roanoke hired 25 teachers this year to provide the smaller classes that were mandated to receive the disparity funds.
Several other school systems in the Roanoke area received disparity funds, but their allocations were smaller: Roanoke County, $25,517; Botetourt County, $17,224; Bedford County, $240,602; and Franklin County, $258,327.
Salem received no disparity funds, because it has no school where 25 percent or more of the students receive free or reduced-priced lunches.
The General Assembly provided the funds to help reduce the gap in school spending between wealthy suburban counties, and rural counties and financially strapped cities.
The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that the state's funding formula for schools is constitutional. But Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, and other state legislators persuaded the General Assembly to provide money for cities and rural counties.
by CNB