Broward schools to review classroom sizes after reports of overcrowding
Key Points(5)
- Broward County Public Schools will conduct a districtwide review of class sizes after a School Board member said some kindergarten and first-grade classrooms have had as many as 25 students since the beginning of the school year, exceeding Florida’s class-size limit.
- The School Board recently directed Superintendent Howard Hepburn to prepare a written report identifying classrooms and core-curriculum sections that exceed, or are projected to exceed, state class-size requirements.
- The review will also identify schools and grade levels significantly exceeding district staffing and student-to-teacher allocation guidelines.
- School Board member Adam Cervera, who represents District 6, requested the review after receiving complaints from parents about crowded classrooms.
- “Parents in District 6 keep telling me the same thing: classrooms are too crowded for kids to learn and too crowded for teachers to teach,” Cervera said in a social media post Sunday.
Broward County Public Schools will conduct a districtwide review of class sizes after a School Board member said some kindergarten and first-grade classrooms have had as many as 25 students since the beginning of the school year, exceeding Florida’s class-size limit.
The School Board recently directed Superintendent Howard Hepburn to prepare a written report identifying classrooms and core-curriculum sections that exceed, or are projected to exceed, state class-size requirements. The review will also identify schools and grade levels significantly exceeding district staffing and student-to-teacher allocation guidelines.
School Board member Adam Cervera, who represents District 6, requested the review after receiving complaints from parents about crowded classrooms.
“Parents in District 6 keep telling me the same thing: classrooms are too crowded for kids to learn and too crowded for teachers to teach,” Cervera said in a social media post Monday.
“Florida law is clear. K–3 is capped at 18. Some kindergarten and first-grade classes have had 25 students since day one. That is not acceptable.”
Florida’s class-size requirements generally cap core classes at 18 students in prekindergarten through third grade, 22 students in grades four through eight and 25 students in grades nine through 12, although how compliance is calculated varies depending on the school and grade level.
Cervera linked the concerns to staffing reductions approved by the School Board earlier this year, a decision he opposed.
“This did not happen by accident,” he said. “Last spring the Board passed an organizational chart over my objection. I voted no because it cut too many student-facing positions and left too much bureaucracy in place.”
In May, the School Board approved a restructuring plan that included significant job cuts as the district sought to reduce costs amid declining enrollment. Cervera was one of two board members who voted against the plan and warned at the time that the reductions could negatively affect students.
Cervera said Monday that the district had lost “hundreds of certified teachers,” arguing that the reductions contributed to larger classes.
Hepburn, however, has said the district’s cost-cutting efforts were not intended to reduce classroom teaching positions. Teacher allocations are initially based on projected enrollment and are adjusted after the school year begins as officials get a clearer picture of where students are actually enrolled.
The district has been moving teachers from schools where enrollment fell below projections to campuses with higher-than-expected enrollment. Newly hired teachers can also be added where necessary to reduce class sizes.
The issue comes as BCPS grapples with a broader decline in enrollment. The district opened the 2026-27 school year with 11,358 fewer students than the previous year and approximately 60,000 empty seats across its schools, contributing to an estimated $100 million loss in funding.
But declining enrollment districtwide does not necessarily mean every school has fewer students, with some campuses enrolling more students than projected while others fall below expectations.
Cervera said he plans to monitor the findings of the districtwide review and push for classrooms to be brought into compliance.
“Protecting students means protecting teachers,” he said. “I will follow the report and keep pushing until these rooms are in compliance.”
BCPS has not yet released the requested report or identified all schools and classrooms that may exceed state requirements or district staffing guidelines.
