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ABHI RAGHUNATHANEducation guidelines call for less space, but school districts fret the class size amendment will be repealed.
Walk into the classroom of the future and look around. If Florida education officials have their way, the room will be smaller - maybe 10 to 15 percent smaller - than today's classroom.
It's the latest unintended consequence of a 2002 amendment to the Florida Constitution calling for smaller class sizes. The amendment is supposed to limit the number of students in each class, but didn't say a word about the actual rooms.
In June, the state Board of Education approved guidelines that require new classrooms to be several dozen square feet smaller. Officials said they pushed for the change because future classrooms will be holding fewer kids than they do now, thanks to the class size amendment.
But many school districts plan to ignore the guidelines and continue building larger classrooms. They say the state's new approach will saddle them with cramped classrooms even as they look for more space for computers and other equipment. Some wonder what will happen if the class size amendment is repealed in the future.
"They plan to keep building big," said Bill Smith, president of the Florida Educational Facilities Planners' Association. "If the law gets repealed, you're going to get stuck."
The class size amendment requires school districts to limit the number of students in individual classrooms to 18 in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in grades 4-8, and 25 in grades 9-12. The law is now being phased in and will take full effect in 2010.
The new guidelines base classroom size on the number of kids each is supposed to hold in 2010. That means giving up extra space that could have held more desks and computers.
If school districts refuse to follow the new guidelines, they will be hit in the wallet. Districts that build larger classrooms will have to use their own money to pay for the extra space. They won't be able to use state dollars to make classrooms bigger.
New schools can easily cost $30-million to $40-million, with local taxpayers picking up much of the tab.
Pinellas and Hernando school officials say they plan to keep building larger classrooms despite the financial penalty. But other fast-growing counties, including Hillsborough, say they will follow the new guidelines.
"We don't have the extra dollars to build over and above the state criteria," said Jim Johannessen, the building code manager for Hillsborough schools.
The old state criteria for classrooms required school districts to set aside a certain square footage for each student. A kindergarten classroom for 25 students, for example, would need at least 950 square feet.
Because a kindergarten classroom under the class size amendment would only hold up to 18 students, districts would now have to build an 882-square-foot classroom, or about 70 square feet less.
Classrooms for students in grades 4-8 would be 40 to 50 square feet smaller under the new guidelines. High school classrooms won't be affected as much, and some could even get slightly larger.
In Hillsborough, however, all classrooms built under the new guidelines will be 70 to 100 square feet smaller. The district currently has about 35 building additions under way to keep up with student growth, and gets financing from the state.
Planners say the change runs counter both to student needs and education trends.
"The need for classroom space has gotten bigger, even if you have fewer students in it," said Smith of the Facilities Planners' Association. "Everyone would agree that the classroom of the 1930s had less in it."
Today's classrooms need room for computer stations, reading labs and other special areas. That's why Pinellas officials will keep building larger classrooms.
"The trends over time have not been to make classrooms smaller," said Tony Rivas, the director of facilities for Pinellas schools. "All the classrooms that have been of smaller size have caused deficiencies."
Perhaps the biggest fear of fast-growing counties such as Hernando is the possible repeal of the class size amendment. Gov. Jeb Bush opposed the amendment when it was proposed and has tried several times to get rid of it.
If he succeeds, school officials fear they'll be stuck in the future with a bunch of classrooms too small to house their skyrocketing student population.
"Class size reduction is going to have to take a back seat to growth," said Jim Malcolm, vice chairman of the Hernando County School Board.
--Times researcher Angie Holan contributed to this report. Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.