First of two parts
As total enrollment in the Harford County public school system continues to decline, one positive sign is slightly smaller class sizes in many schools.
Average class sizes at the elementary and high school levels in the county this year are both lower than 2010 averages, according to the most recent data available.
Though the average middle school class size this year is slightly higher than 2010, the current average is the same as it was five years ago when total middle school enrollment was higher by four students.
The trends show that while enrollment has dropped across the board, staffing levels have either remained constant in the case of elementary schools or increased in the case of high schools.
The only dark clouds in the latest class size figures are a decline in total positions at the middle school level and an increase in average class sizes at the kindergarten level, where enrollment growth has outpaced staffing increases.
Elementary classes
The average size of an elementary school class in Harford County Public Schools is smaller this school year than it was in the three previous years, according to the annual enrollment report delivered to the county school board at its Dec. 12 meeting.
Class size in grades one through five averaged 20.9 students at the start of the current school year, based on enrollment figures compiled Sept. 30.
The 2011 average is smaller than the average 21.1 students per class in 2010 and is likewise smaller than 2009 and 2008, when the average was 21.0 students per class.
Most of the 2011 decline in average class size can be attributed to a slight decline in total enrollment for grades one to five, from 14,076 students in September 2010 to 13,950 in September 2011.
Though there were fewer students, the total number of classes in the five grades throughout the school system remained constant at 666, according to the two most recent enrollment reports. The latter figure includes the addition of Red Pump Elementary School this year, meaning the total number of classes did not change, even though the total number of schools increased by one to 33.
According to the latest enrollment report, 201 elementary classes this year, or 30 percent of all classes, have fewer than 20 students; 437 classes, or 66 percent, have between 20 and 25 students; and 28 classes, or 4 percent, have 26 to 29 students.
Compared to 2010, there are more classes in the under-20 students range in 2011 and fewer classes with 20-25 students and with 26-29 students. On a school-by-school basis, average class size rose in 16 schools and declined in 16 schools, according to the most recent class size report. (Red Pump is not included in this analysis since it opened this year.)
In 2011, the average first-grade class has 20.0 students, second grade 20.1 students, third grade 21.0 students, fourth grade 21.5 students and fifth grade 22.6 students. The fourth and fifth grade averages are unchanged from 2010, while the first and third grade averages are slightly lower and the third grade average slightly higher.
No elementary classes have 30 or more students in grades one through five in 2011, according to the report. There hasn't been a class with 30 or more students in at least seven years, according to reports going back through September 2005.
Class sizes at the elementary level are sensitive to enrollment and staffing levels, both systemwide and in each school, as well as from grade to grade.
While total enrollment declined by 126 students from 2010 to 2011, the same number of total classes each year suggests staffing levels were not cut, nor were they added to, even though an additional school opened. A countywide redistricting that occurred prior to the start of the school year was used to stock Red Pump with students, while also reducing enrollment at some other schools, particularly in the greater Bel Air area.
Teri Kranefeld, director of communications for the school system, said students and faculty were shifted among schools prior to the start of this year to accommodate the additional school and to fulfill the redistricting plan.
How individual schools stand
In general, the greatest concentration of elementary classrooms in Harford falls in the 20 to 25 student range. In addition to there being no elementary classrooms with more than 30 students, there are very few – just 28 of 666 – in the 26-30 student range. There are 201 classrooms – about 32 percent – with fewer than 20 students.
William Paca/Old Post Road Elementary in Edgewood, a historically low achieving school with a high at-risk student population and a declining enrollment in part because of transfers, has the most classrooms with fewer than 20 students – 32 – of any elementary school in the county. The school's other two classes in grades 1 through 5 have 20 to 25 students.
Other schools with a high number of classrooms of fewer than 20 students include Church Creek, Hall's Cross Roads and Magnolia, each with 18, and George B. Lisby at Hillsdale in Aberdeen with 14. Norrisville Elementary has nine classrooms with less than 20 students, and Hickory Elementary has seven. No other school has more than six, although it should be noted that three of Darlington Elementary's five classrooms have less than 20 students and the other two have 20 to 25 students.
Only one school in the county, Deerfield Elementary, has six classrooms with 26 to 30 students. Abingdon Elementary has five in that range; no other school has more than three.
At Youth's Benefit Elementary in Fallston, this year's enrollment of 840 students in grades 1 to 5 is the highest in the county. Of the school's 36 classrooms for those grades, 33 are in the 20-25 student range, one has under 20 students and two have 26 to 30.
Kindergarten classes
Unlike enrollment in grades one through five, total enrollment in kindergarten classes increased this school year, as did the average class size.
According to the latest class size report, there were 2,792 students enrolled in 152 kindergarten classes, or sections, in 33 schools as of Sept. 30 this year, compared with a total enrollment of 2,681 in 149 sections in 32 schools on Sept. 30, 2010.
Even with the additional classes added, the increase of 111 kindergarten students this year meant the average class size increased from 18.0 students in 2010 to 2011 students this year.
Moving forward
Kranefeld, the school system's spokesperson, said the school system's planners will watch enrollment trends closely during the year to determine staffing needs going forward.
She said the number of class sizes is reviewed using an average size starting around March, as students are projected to move to the next grade level going forward.
"There are two sets of information provided – moving up each grade level and the projected [enrollment] numbers are also compared," she explained. "Staff is moved from within the school to accommodate any 'bubbles' of students created by an increased grade level enrollment. As student is [moved\ from grade to grade, staff from within the school [move] to accommodate those fluctuations."
Coming Wednesday: High school classes stable, middle schools increase.