Rural Nebraska school district wants to shrink elementary class sizes

CERESCO, Neb. (KLKN) – Raymond Central Public Schools is trying to make its class sizes smaller.

Superintendent Bryon Hanson wants to reduce class sizes at Ceresco and Valparaiso elementary schools to create a better learning environment for students.

“Our goal is to get those sizes lower and benefit both our teachers and our students,” he said.

Shrinking the classes means the district will have to hire more teachers, so Hanson is looking to add three for the next school year.

The district will have to contend with a statewide teacher shortage, but Hanson said the change will attract teachers because it will make it easier for them to manage their classrooms.

“Doing this is going to help academic achievement, but it will also help us keep, retain and recruit great teachers,” he said.

Hanson said having smaller classes helps students learn according to their needs.

He pointed to studies finding that when class size decreases by a third, students gain three weeks of instruction in a school year.

“As those class sizes get smaller, individual attention is going to increase,” he said.

Hanson said the largest class at the elementary schools has 28 students.

“Our goal would be for our class sizes to end up being around 17, 18 to 20,” he said.

He’s encouraging the community to attend public forums next week.

One will be at 7 p.m. Monday at Ceresco Elementary, and another will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at Valparaiso Elementary.

Hanson said attending the forums is a perfect opportunity for parents to voice their concerns.

“No. 1, we want to give people a chance to hear firsthand what we’re looking at doing, the options and most importantly why,” he said.

He also wants to give the people a chance to ask questions and have them answered in a factual manner.

Hanson said the district will then use the feedback to make a decision about what happens for the next school year.

The district wants to move quickly and start the hiring process as soon as possible.

“We know we need to do this,” Hanson said. “So whatever decision we make, we plan to make as soon as possible, and we are going to be implementing this the next school year.”