JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As kids get ready to head back to school in Duval County, classes are already projected to be overcrowded.
That's according to Duval Teachers United (DTU), the local teachers union.
DTU President Tammie Brooks-Evans said several teachers have called her saying their classes will be overcrowded, including a teacher at the brand-new Chaffee Trails Middle School.
Brooks-Evans said the teacher told her their classroom has 25 desks but will have 40 students. She said it’s a problem district wide.
“How are we going to provide a quality education when the class sizes continue to soar?" Brooks-Evans said.
It's a question she has for the school district as kids prepare to go back to school Monday.
“The charge for the district is figure out how we can get more teachers so that those classrooms can have fewer students so they can deliver a higher education," Brooks-Evans said.
In April, interim superintendent, Dr. Dana Kriznar, said the district had to cut 706 jobs, including hundreds of teacher positions.
Kriznar says the decision was due to the elimination of Covid-related federal funding and the increase in private school vouchers.
With the decrease in funding, Kriznar said class sizes would be increasing,
“We are seeing taxpayer dollars funneled to private vouchers and charter schools leaving our neighborhood schools behind and not adequately funding them to address larger class sizes," DCPS parent, Katie Hathaway, said.
Hathaway said one of her children’s classes at Fletcher is projected to be overcrowded and thinks the problem, and solution, lies in Tallahassee.
“Our state leaders need to do better our kid’s future depends on it," Hathaway said.
First Coast News reached out to the district. It did not confirm if classrooms will be overcrowded. It did say it uses the first few days of school to balance classrooms if necessary.
The district said it has 97% of its teacher vacancies filled and has 189 vacancies in mostly specialized areas.
First Coast News also reached out to the department of education asking what the maximum class sizes are but has not heard back.
Brooks-Evans said she will be sending a survey to teachers asking them questions about their classes. She hopes to bring the data to the district to discuss solutions about addressing growing class sizes.
The St. Johns County School District said it has 58 instructional vacancies as of Friday and it does not anticipate classes being overcrowded.
In Clay County, the school district said it is not dealing with overcrowded classrooms.
The Nassau County School District did not respond to First Coast News' questions.