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LAUSD wants to change how the state fines school districts for transitional kindergarten violations
In an audit, two schools out of a sample size of 88 were found to have exceeded the 24-student class size.
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Mariana Dale/ LAist
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Topline:
The Los Angeles Unified School District is looking to sponsor state legislation to change the way school districts are penalized for violating class size requirements for transitional kindergarten — the new grade level for 4-year-olds.
The backstory: California fined LAUSD $8.1 million for having too many students in transitional kindergarten classes and not enough teachers in the 2022-23 school year. State guidelines require classes to not exceed an average enrollment of 24 students, and to have at least 1 adult for every 12 students.
The violations: Auditors who sampled 88 district schools found that two schools had more than 24 students in transitional kindergarten classrooms. They also found that 20 schools didn’t have enough teachers per classroom, and that 19 more adults were needed to meet the required staffing ratios. Three charter schools also had similar violations.
LAUSD’s stance: The district — which expanded transitional kindergarten to all students ahead of the state’s full rollout in 2025 — has said the fines are not fair. “The current law is very punitive in that it gives the impression that every school is out of compliance when only a handful of schools are out of compliance,” said Martha Alvarez, the district’s chief of legislative affairs and governmental relations. Currently, fines for class size violations are based on the average daily attendance of students in the entire district.
The proposed fix: The district is looking to change state law so that those fines are based on individual schools that are in violation — and not based on district-wide attendance.
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