The School Board of Orange County on Tuesday unanimously approved strategies for compliance with the Class Size Amendment approved by Florida voters in November 2002. This amendment sets the maximum students assigned to each teacher at 18 for K-3, 22 for grades 4-8 and 25 for grades 9-12 for core classes.
The strategies approved by the board for compliance with the Class Size Amendment are:
- Dual enrollment
- Virtual instruction (including franchise)
- Review of graduation policies
- Maximize use of instructional staff (repurpose)
- Move to seven periods at middle and high schools
- Alternative grade configurations to maximize facility utilization
- Use of prototypes to reduce cost
- Rezoning to balance facility utilization
- Use of modular classrooms as needed
- Use of critical needs operating millage to provide additional instructional staff
- Set aside CSR resource pool to assist schools only after all reasonable actions have been taken
Although the school board has adopted several strategies to comply with current class size caps, Amendment 8, a proposal by the GOP-controlled legislature aimed at eliminating strict limits on school class sizes will likely appear on the election ballot on November 2. If approved by 60 percent of Florida voters, school officials will be allowed to use averages, instead of class-by-class totals when complying with class size requirements.
For more information on the district’s strategies for compliance click HERE.
