Elementary classrooms in three Fort Worth-area school districts exceed the state’s maximum number of students Texas allows for one teacher.
School trustees in the Fort Worth, Crowley and Aledo districts are seeking state waivers allowing specific classes to have more than 22 students. Texas generally caps class sizes in pre-K through fourth grade.
Here’s how many class-size waivers each district sought:
- 137 classes in Fort Worth ISD
- 53 classes in Crowley ISD
- 17 classes in Aledo ISD
Steven Poole, executive director of the United Educators Association, told Fort Worth ISD trustees that crowded classes have a profound effect on students and teachers.
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Many FWISD schools persistently need class-size waivers year after year while more than 3 in 5 campuses needing waivers received Cs, Ds or Fs in state academic accountability ratings, Poole noted.
“If you look at the name of the schools, they’re the same schools you see on the list year after year,” he said.
Research from the 1980s and 1990s found students in smaller classes in early grades were between two and five months ahead of their peers in larger classes, a gap that widened by the eighth grade.
However, a separate study conducted in New York City during the 2010s found class-size reduction can improve student achievement if teacher quality stays consistent.
A national survey found educators want class sizes capped and their schools to hire more teachers to boost morale, according to findings released by news outlet Education Week in March.
Chief of schools Priscila Dilley said FWISD faces a shortage of teachers, particularly in bilingual education. The district requested waivers for 50 dual language classrooms — or a third of all crowded classes.
“Class-size waivers allow us to keep students in stable, certified classrooms rather than dividing them into classes without permanent teachers,” Dilley said. “Without these waivers, many students could end up in rooms led by long-term substitutes or left unassigned due to vacancies.”
The waivers are a temporary solution as Fort Worth ISD administrators recruit and hire new teachers, Dilley said.
Meanwhile, growth along the edges of Fort Worth are prompting others to seek waivers.
Crowley school leaders attributed their need for class-size waivers to “unexpected growth” within the affected 15 schools, according to a Sept. 25 board document. In August, Crowley ISD had 16,990 students, a 2% increase from last year. Leaders expect enrollment to top 20,000 by 2028.
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Aledo school leaders noted such enrollment increases were why the district needed to submit waivers for some classes at four of its campuses, according to a Sept. 15 school board report.
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Aledo and Crowley spokespeople did not respond to requests to comment.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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