Officials Discuss Plan for Grouping Schools

A Garden Grove Unified School District proposal to group 12 elementary schools by grade level may ease overcrowding and class-size problems but it won’t solve them, several school officials said Tuesday.

During a school board study session on the plan, officials said the proposal to group schools into clusters of three, in which two schools have grades K through three and the third school has grades four to six, might not prevent some of the schools from going to year-round schedules.

The grouping, however, would allow the district to reduce the number of students in each second-grade class and take advantage of state funds directed to schools with small class sizes.

School officials warned, however, that the triad grouping would cost more than $6 million to implement, including the costs of 12 school buses, 10 bus drivers, remodeling and portable classrooms.

The strongest opposition to the plan has come from parents.

Over the last two weeks, hundreds of parents have turned out to protest the triad grouping.

“Parents don’t like these triads, and it’s really only a Band-Aid,” Supt. Ron Walter said. “If you approve the triads, we may still need year-round schools.”

Many teachers also oppose the plan, saying that separating children by grade level won’t allow educators to become familiar with families and communities.