District addresses class sizes following complaints

Port Washington-Saukville School District officials who earlier this year were on the receiving end of complaints from parents who said their children’s elementary school classes were too large received their first look last week at class-size guidelines.

The administrative guideline sets expectations in the form of target class sizes for  each grade level “with effort being made to avoid” maximum class sizes.

That structure, which falls short of a policy that would obligate administrators to follow specific class-size parameters, is favored by the School Board’s Policy Committee, whose members have said the district needs flexibility as it balances class sizes with financial challenges.

“I see this being more of an AG (administrative guideline) rather than a set-in-stone policy,” School Board member Sara McCutcheon said in July when the committee first discussed class-size guidelines. “I like having the parameters, but in our current climate and the way we’re funded and our budget, there are tough decisions that have to be made that may not always fall within (a policy).”

During the committee’s Sept. 14 meeting, Supt. Michael McMahon introduced the following guidelines:

n 4-year-old kindergarten: a target class size of 20 students with effort made to avoid class sizes of more than 22.

n Kindergarten through second grade: A target class size of 22 students with effort made to avoid class sizes of more than 25.

n Third through fifth grade: A target class size of 25 students with effort made to avoid classes sizes of more than 28.

n Sixth through 12th grade: A target class size of 25 students with effort made to avoid class sizes of more than 30.

The average current class size is below those targets in all grades except first and second, where the average is 22.7 students and the target is 22 students.

In terms of the size of individual classes, one is above the target in kindergarten, four are above the target in first grade, which has one class of 26 students, and four are above the target in second grade, which has a class of 25 students. All other classes in the district are currently at or below the targets.

The guideline makes an exception for certain middle and in particular high school courses such as phy-ed and music, which by their nature are typically larger.

It sets a minimum target class size of 15 students but again makes exceptions for courses that tend to be smaller, for instance upper level Advanced Placement classes and high school family and consumer education culinary classes.

“We only have so many ovens,” McMahon said.

Minor changes will be made to the administrative guideline before it is brought back to the Policy Committee next month, he said.

Class sizes became a concern in the district after two years of staffing cuts — the first of which focused on elementary school staffing — intended to better match the number of teachers to students and balance budgets in what has become a prolonged period of declining enrollment.

In May, parents of elementary school students told the board that staffing changes made ahead of the 2025-26 school year resulted in class sizes that compromise learning and overburden teachers.

“Over the last five years, our staff and students have endured a whirlwind — shifting leadership, three new curricula, rising behavioral challenges and a steady decrease in support staff,” Ali Zalewski, who taught in the district for 15 years before stepping away to raise her five children, said. 

“To now max out these classrooms feels like the breaking point in an already strained ecosystem.”

In addition to putting teachers in a situation where “burnout is a predictable outcome,” crowded classrooms compromise learning, she said. 

“For my first-grade student, a maxed-out classroom is a louder, more overwhelming environment. The quiet child stays silent. The struggling learner waits longer for one-on-one help. We’re asking our youngest learners to navigate high-intensity environments before they have learned to regulate their emotions,” Zalewski said.

Parents have also expressed concern about staffing changes that stemmed from a schedule change at the high school this school year and was key to balancing the 2026-27 budget. It requires educators to teach six classes a day, one more than they had previously been required to handle.

The budget also focuses on maintaining full-time positions — considered important for teacher recruitment and retention efforts — which means that four high school educators are also teaching courses at the middle school to give them the six classes they need to remain full time.

Among those teachers are Port High band teacher Chris Clouthier and choir teacher Dennis Gephart. Forcing them to teach additional courses and travel to the middle school, parents said, threatens a renowned music program that brings students to the district.

Policy Committee members said in July that while they are willing to discuss staffing concerns, such a discussion should be had by the School Board and focus on all grade levels in the district.

“I think that discussion is outside of this (class-size) policy, and if we’re going to have that discussion, it needs to be a K-12 discussion,” McCutcheon said. 

McMahon said he would bring staffing information from comparable school districts to the board along with feedback from Port-Saukville teachers and parents in the future.