The head of the Lambton Kent District School Board is very concerned about the impact of larger class sizes, especially on rural schools.
Director of Education Jim Costello said it's clear from proposed changes announced by the education minister last week, that boards will be forced to try to maintain programs with fewer resources.
He said he's heard from some teachers who are worried about a significant increase in average class size ratios proposed in secondary schools.
"The jump from 22 to 28 students per class is averaged across the system," said Costello. "It can mean there would be significantly less teachers in a school, but again, we have to see because the government has talked about using retirements and attrition to try and balance that out and achieve those savings. My concern is our rural schools. We have four secondary schools that are under 400 students, they don't have a lot of elective courses on their timetables as it is."
Other changes include revising teacher hiring practices, new math and sex education curriculum, and a ban on cell phones in the classroom effective in September.
Costello said they already have an administrative procedure that allows for the teacher to make the final decision regarding appropriate use for a cell phone in class.
"When you see a ban on cell phones in classrooms that aren't being used for educational purposes, the obvious question for us, and for school boards will be, what do we do and what is the ministry asking the teacher to do if a student pulls a cell phone out and is using it for recreational use in a classroom."
