Leave Elementary Class Sizes Alone

To the Editor: Like a lot of people, my family and I moved to Scarsdale, not because it has good schools, but because it has GREAT schools. Just as important, it has lots of other families that value the schools the same way. It has a creative School Board that has focused on working with students to foster critical thinking and problem-solving instead of rote learning, as evidenced in the Singapore Math program and Capstone projects for 5th graders. And Scarsdale residents have passed the school budget with over 70% voting "yes" in the last two budget votes. This is not just an indication of how much we value the schools, but also an endorsement of all the work done by the Board of Education and Superintendent McGill.

While many school districts are facing difficult times, and the Board needs to weigh the needs of the Elementary schools in relation to the needs of the entire district, the current proposal being considered by the Board to raise class sizes at the elementary school level seems too drastic a measure. Larger classes for children in their formative years could have long-term implications for them as students and increased costs to the district. I would argue that the class sizes are in fact already too large, and Superintendent McGill would agree with me. He stated, back when the current class sizes were being proposed, that students in smaller classes are active learners, view themselves, their peers and their teacher more positively, and problems can be identified more quickly.

Even temporarily raising the class size limit is unacceptable. Today's "temporary" becomes tomorrow's "standard" on which more increases would be based. The Board needs to come to a consensus on creative solutions to budget problems without compromising on the values we hold as residents of Scarsdale. Leave elementary school class sizes alone.  To learn more about the effort to maintain classes sizes, click here.

Regards,
Neil Pierson
Bradley Road
Scarsdale