By Gavin Brunamonte,
Staff Writer.
Due to district-wide budget cuts, Santa Rosa City Schools district is suffering from absurd increases to class sizes, including classes at Santa Rosa High School. As class sizes increase, many are beginning to worry about the short- and long-term effects of these overfull sections.
The primary concerns teachers are facing is classroom management, individual attention and teacher burnout. These effects will have a devastating impact on students and teachers alike. Despite this, several teachers have taken an optimistic view of the situation. “Larger class sizes aren’t ideal, but this is the situation we’re in, and I’m confident the educators at this school can make it work,” said sciences teacher Matthew Samet, who teaches chemistry, AP Chemistry, and earth science with a total of 145 students enrolled.
With louder classrooms and teachers being able to provide less individual focus, student focus drifts very easily. This makes the classroom an overall worse learning environment. “The classroom is a very special place and impacting it in this way could jeopardize education,” said math teacher Kenny Kennedy.
Another issue students and teachers face is losing access to class diversity. While many classes and electives have remained intact, the loss of various sections has been felt across the school. “Our students deserve stability and access to diverse, rigorous classes and financial mismanagement should not be solved by limiting their access to those things,” said history teacher Ashley Bell, who teaches U.S. history, A.P. U.S. History, and ethnic studies pop culture with a total of 171 students.
Regardless of what decisions have been made, we cannot fix this issue by complaining about it. Though some teachers feel optimistic about larger classes, many still worry about burnout and individual attention. It is now our job as the student body to support our educators as best we can. We don’t need to start grading papers or building slide decks, but if all of us made the classroom a little quieter and a little more manageable, then this change may not be as damaging as we fear.
