Elmhurst School's Class Sizes Criticized

ELMHURST, IL – A parent says the second grade class sizes at Elmhurst's Edison Elementary School are too large.

At this week's school board meeting, Maureen McPherson, who has twins in second grade at Edison, said one class is 26 students and the other is 27.

"Twenty-seven is too many 7- and 8-year-olds to have in one classroom," said McPherson, an elementary school Spanish teacher in another district. "At the start of the year, many second graders are not even independent readers yet. So they require a great deal of guidance from their teachers."

Making things more difficult, she said, is when classes have students with special education needs and those with English as a second language.

"There is only so much differentiation that a teacher can do with 27 students in the room," said McPherson, who attended Elmhurst public schools.

Edison's second grade classes are larger than the school's average, which is 21. The averages at the district's seven other elementaries range from 18 to 23, according to the Illinois Report Card.

McPherson said she was disappointed that district administrators last month recommended keeping staff levels the same for next year.

"I'm not OK with the current staffing," she said. "I sincerely hope that if the admin team brings forth a proposal for a third section of third grade next year at Edison that this board approves it."

The school board did not respond to McPherson's comments.

Here is a look at class sizes at Elmhurst's public elementary schools:

Source: Illinois Report Card