Riverfield Parents Press for Fifth Section

Nearly 100 parents at Riverfield School want the Board of Education to add a fifth 5th-grade section at Riverfield in the next school year, saying large numbers of children in this year's fourth-grade classrooms are hurting children's ability to learn.

"There are currently 99 children in this fourth grade, and this year, like last year, the children are in only four sections. This class is one of the largest classes to go through Riverfield," Jenny Gillis, mother of a Riverfield School 4th-grader, said to the Board of Education last week. "Because we believe that this large class size has played a detrimental role in their education, we are here to plead with you tonight to add a fifth section for this class next year."

Gillis said the Connecticut Mastery Test performance by the class last year, when the children were in third grade, was "alarming" in that 31 percent did not meet the state goal for reading and 39 percent did not meet the state goal for math. "This poor CMT performance was not a surprise to the parents here tonight. We knew that our children were not learning the curriculum in a satisfactory manner," she said. "The principal and teachers are doing what they can within the current budget, but exceptional circumstances, including the poor CMT scores, require an exceptional response."

Gillis said she and other Riverfield School parents understood the school board's class-size guidelines and budget, but they also believe the school system is "failing these children."

The Board of Education, which is comprised of nine elected volunteer residents, did not respond to Gillis' comments during the meeting, and Sue Brand, the board's chairwoman, wasn't available Monday afternoon.

Class-size guidelines of the school board limit to 25 the number of children in grades 3, 4 and 5 and limit to 23 the number of students in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2.

Riverfield's current fourth-grade class, if it stays at the same number in September as it is now, would be two students short of a fifth 5th-grade section under those guidelines.

Paul Toaso, Riverfield School's principal, said Monday that the school currently had 22 classes and has had as many as 24 classes in the past. "We'd be able to find space for another class next year," he said, adding that the decision on whether to make exceptions to the class-size guidelines was the Board of Education's.

Toaso said school administrators carefully monitor enrollment in the schools and would be on top of the situation if families with incoming fifth-graders move into the Riverfield School district between now and next August and push the 5th-grade class above 100 students. "We keep a close tab on that," he said.

Adding a fifth 5th-grade section at Riverfield in 2010-11 isn't the first request of Riverfield School's parents that may be denied by the Board of Education.

The school board, about two months ago, formally withdrew its plan for a $4.28 million addition at Riverfield School in order to concentrate on expanding Fairfield Woods Middle School, a $24.2 million project that received approval from the Representative Town Meeting last week. The Fairfield Woods' project, however, still needs approval from either the Town Plan and Zoning Commission or the town's Zoning Board of Appeals.

Enrollment projections, reported by Applied Data Services on Nov. 30, project Riverfield's 5th-grade enrollment next year at 99 students, which is far and away the largest grade size at Riverfield projected by ADS over the next 10 years.

The Board of Education's budget for 2010-11 doesn't include funding for additional teachers in its staff reserve account, though school administrators said they would find funding for more teachers in 2010-11 if the need arose.

The Board of Education's budget faces review and a vote by the town's Board of Finance on Thursday and then would face a final review and vote by the Representative Town Meeting in early May. The Board of Finance can add money to the school board's 2010-11 spending plan, but the RTM can only cut money from it.