5th grader at Massachusetts middle school urges board to decrease class size
A fifth grader at a Massachusetts middle school says her classes have too many students, so she took action.
"It's already really difficult to focus in our classes now, and if they go higher and higher, it's going to be almost impossible," said Carli Hunter, a student at Raynham Middle School.
Student asks for smaller class sizes
The 10-year-old recently addressed the Raynham Board of Selectmen with an urgent plea to increase school funding so that class sizes can decrease.
"Large class sizes make it difficult for me to focus, get help from my teacher, and feel confident asking questions in front of everyone," she said at the meeting.
Carli says she's doing her best to concentrate in school but knows she and her fellow classmates are not getting the quality education they deserve.
"Our gym classes have 90 students with only three teachers. And when we were doing badminton right now, and there's not enough equipment because of not enough funding," Hunter said.
Carli and her mom are part of a growing group of parents, students, and teachers in the Bridgewater-Raynham community who are pushing for increased school funding to improve the quality of education that children receive.
School in $6.4 million budget deficit
"I hope an override is passed in both towns, and I hope that the stakeholders, including the community leaders, can put forth the right to vote and have that democratic process play out," Bridgewater-Raynham Education Association Political Action V.P Ashley Mallard said.
Timothy Fitzgibbons is chair of the Bridgewater-Raynham School Committee. He says the district is facing a $6.4 million deficit right now.
"I think everyone in this whole community, in both communities, want to see smaller class sizes. The real question is how do we get there and what's the price tag," he said.
Fitzgibbons says there will be a School Committee meeting on Wednesday, where they will present a budget that will reduce class sizes slightly. That budget will then be formally presented to both Bridgewater and Raynham for town officials to review and for voters to decide.
