Ontario to cap kindergarten classes at 30

The Liberal government of Ontario has agreed to cap the number of students in full-day kindergarten classes at 30, according to Canadian Press reports of a tentative agreement with elementary teachers obtained by the Canadian Press.

There is no cap currently but each school board, including the Greater Essex County District School Board, is required to have an average of 26 students per full-day kindergarten class. The terms of the deal would ensure a maximum class size of 30 for the 2017-18 school year, with a goal of 29 for the following year.

Superintendent of Education and Elementary Staffing and Information Technology at the GECDSB, John Howitt, says the ETFO has been pushing for smaller class sizes.

“It wouldn’t impact the GECDSB at all,” said Howitt. “We are already meeting the class size cap. We had no classes that were above 30 at the time that the class size report went in, in September.”

Kindergarten teacher Lindsay Jones said there are eight Kindergarten classes at Giles Campus French Immersion.

“We have 28 students currently and I think 30 students is plenty,” said Jones. “With a teacher and an ECE, 15 per educator is a fair number.”

If the proposal is approved, Ontario will also invest $50 million to hire special education teachers.

According to People for Education, approximately 17 per cent of elementary school students receive special education assistance, a percentage that has been increasing steadily over the last 20 years. Meeting the needs of special education students continues to be a challenge.

Jones said there is one full time special education teacher and one part time altogether at GCFI.

“In our classroom we have an educational assistant, which obviously is a little different from a special education teacher,” said Jones. “She helps with our students who need some extra attention, but we could definitely use more. We need the parents to be on board with wanting their child to get some extra help so that we can get special education teachers from the board.”

In 2014 there was an average of 37 students with special education needs per special education teacher in Ontario, as stated in a publication on peopleforeducation.ca. A focus on early intervention means more younger students entering kindergarten require services and supports. Because of the lack of funding in that area, 83 per cent of these students are in regular classrooms.

Educational assistant and early childhood educator Tasia Harris said she has experience with elementary students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 and feels there is a lack of support when it comes to children who require extra attention.

“If there’s 30 kids in a classroom with one teacher and one ECE, that’s a lot,” said Harris.  “I couldn’t imagine being in a class with more than that, especially if we have a kid that has attention deficits and we have a kid who is shy. How are you going to be in both places at once?”

ETFO and the Ontario government are still negotiating the details and no confirmations have been made.

Superintendent of Special Education Lynn McLaughlin, at the GECDSB, was reluctant to speak about the cap.

“We would not be able to comment in any way until ETFO members have voted on the agreement,” said McLaughlin. “It has been embargoed until that time.  We also do not know whether or not it will be ratified.”

If the plan is approved, elementary teachers within the public board will receive a four per cent raise over the next two years.