EDMONTON – New enrollment numbers for Edmonton public schools’ 2013-2014 year show class sizes, specifically for Kindergarten to Grade 3, continue to grow.
“It’s always a challenge for the teachers no matter how many students you have, but the larger class size would offer great challenge,” said Dolores Kowalchuk, the principal of Coronation School.
The school has seen a surge of students the past two years, and now has the highest average enrollment from Kindergarten to Grade 3 in the city.
“Grade 1 is 27, and we have a Grade 1-2 combined of 26.”
READ MORE: Alberta students head back to larger class sizes
Just over a decade ago, the Alberta Commission on Learning set class size targets. Currently, Edmonton public school classes are meeting the targets for Grades 4-12. However, for Kindergarten to Grade 3, the Commission set a class size target of 17 students per class. But, the average class right now for those grades has 22 students.
“We are hearing from many of our members that they have very large classes,” said Nels Olsen, president of Local 37 of Edmonton Public Teachers.
He added that class size initiatives are “very, very important.”
“Class size initiatives generally are trying to recognize that there is an optimal point for learning and instruction and right now we don’t really have that balance.”
“It’s very difficult for students in a large class to get the assistance and support that they might need,” he added.
Coronation School is more than 10 students above the class size target with an average Kindergarten-Grade 3 class size of 27.9.
“An excellent teacher can group the students in a way that all can be heard, and for all the students, the learning can be maximized,” said Kowalchuk, who added the school uses educational assistants and assistive technology to help.
Belmont School’s average K-3 class size is 27.4, and Malcolm Tweddle School’s average is 26.6 students.
(See full enrollment numbers for Edmonton public schools below).
“The situation that’s out there, again, is just not sustainable,” said Olsen.
“If the government, who controls the funding for all of these… would make sure that we either support classes of that size by having the correct, for instance, teaching assistants in the classroom… The other thing they could do is try to live up to that, for K-3, we’re looking a recommended size of 17.”
The class size issue is one the education minister says he’s well aware of.
Twenty-thousand new students started school in Alberta this school year, and Jeff Johnson says funding is being put in place to catch up with that growth.
“We’ve increased the education budget every year, and even last year we increased it significantly, about four per cent, $300 million the education budget went up, but what’s swallowing most of the increases is the increased enrollment.”
READ MORE: Breaking down the Alberta budget – a closer look at areas affected
Two new elementary schools are in the works for the Edmonton Public School District, but they’re both still in the tendering stage and won’t be ready for students until September 2016.
With files from Tom Vernon, Global News
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