Complaints About Overcrowded Elementary Classes Persist at North Allegheny School District

Ever since the beginning of the school year, at each school board meeting, North Allegheny School Directors have been getting an earful from angry parents about the disparity in class sizes among the district's seven the elementary schools.

And that's likely to continue when the board meets Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at the Carson Middle School Auditorium.

The problem appears to be the most acute at Hosack and Ingomar Elementary schools, where there are 30 or more students in some classes.

Michelle Chiu is the parent of a third-grader at Hosack, and says there are eight classes out of 145 in the district with 30 or more students.

“Kids are distressed. They used to enjoy going to school, now they come home complaining of headaches,” she told the board at its Oct. 24 meeting. “Our averages don’t tell the whole picture. We have some classrooms with a very high number of students and we have some classrooms with a very low number. Other school districts don’t have this kind of disparity.” 

School board member Linda Bishop told parents at the board's Sept. 19 meeting that the district had increased class sizes to help balance its current budget. 

"We're now at the point where some very difficult decisions are going to have to be made, and one of those already this year was to float some of the class sizes," Bishop said. "We didn't furlough any teachers. We simply didn't replace some teachers who retired." 

Board member Beth Ludwig told a Hosack Elementary PFA meeting on Oct. 2that in the past, the board would have simply hired another teacher to reduce the number of students per class.

"We are not in the economic times where we can just add a teacher," she said. "We are not hiring, we are not replacing teachers who retire, the money is simply not there."

The district is facing an $8 million deficit and considering proposals to close one elementary school, something that further angers parents.

“I resent hearing that this is happening everywhere, it is simply not true," said Bonnie Genter at the board's Oct. 24 meeting. "I’m an NA graduate, my husband graduated from NA, my mother graduated from NA, and both my husband’s parents graduated from NA. So my children are third generation NA students. I used to be very proud to say I went to NA. I’m not so sure I’ll be able to say that in the future.” 

For more information on parent's efforts to form a community task force about the proposed school closings, click www.saveNAschools.com. 

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