Philadelphia Federation of Teachers School District of Philadelphia

XVIII. Working Conditions of Teachers
27. The caseload for occupational and physical therapists shall be equivalent
to the caseload established by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for speech
therapists as they may be amended from time to time.
G. class Size
1. The School District and the Federation recognize the desirability of reducing
class size through both control of pupil-teacher ratio and maximum class
size. Specialist teachers, remedial teachers and administrative assistants are not
counted in the pupil-teacher ratio.
2. The School District has established policy goals for reduced class size.
3. The School District is committed to reducing class sizes across elementary
grades beginning with primary grades. The School District has committed additional
resources from grants and other funding sources to aid in this effort. The
goal is to reduce class size in Grades K–3 to a target of twenty-four (24) or
fewer, provided the School District continues to receive additional funding
resources, and has personnel and space to make the reductions possible. The
goal for Grades 4–8 is a target of twenty-five (25), subject to the same conditions,
and after the goal for Grades K–3 is met.
4. Maximum class size shall be thirty (30) in grades K–3. In all other regular
classes, maximum class size shall be thirty-three (33) students.
5. Shop classes shall be twenty-four (24). The number of workstations in a
shop shall be the basic criterion to be used in determining the number of pupils
assigned to a class. Whenever it becomes necessary to assign more pupils then
can be accommodated at available work stations in a given shop, the factors
limiting the number of pupils shall be the safety of the pupils and the ability of
the teacher in such a situation to carry out the course of study.
6. Acceptable reasons for exceeding stated class size maximum may
include:
(a) Unavailability of space or unfeasibility of reorganizing kindergarten
classrooms, in which case there may be classrooms as high as thirty-four (34)
with the addition of the services of a Supportive Services Assistant.
(b) There is no space available in the school;
(c) Observing the stated maximum would require placing classes on a short
time schedule;
(d) A larger class size is necessary and desirable for specialized, assembly or
forum type classes (e.g. library, music) or experimental instruction; or
(e) A larger class size will facilitate team teaching provided that the number
of teachers on the team falls within contractual class size parameters.
7. Where the maximum class sizes established in this Agreement are
exceeded, the Principal shall provide the reason(s) in writing to the teacher of
the class in which this has occurred and to the Superintendent of Schools. Where
the teacher or the Federation questions the validity of the Principal’s reason(s),
a grievance may be filed.
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