Only fourth graders from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Hawaii scored lower. These test results show a significant change from the high standard of education provided in California during the post-World War II period. Only recently has the state attempted to address diminishing student performance by providing class size relief in primary grades and in grade nine English and math classes. In fact, despite inadequate funding, Claremont schools have implemented class size reduction programs in grades K-three, grades seven and eight English Language Arts, and ninth grade English and math. The implementation required the addition of portable classrooms.
Schools are crowded.
Twenty-five classrooms in Claremont are now dedicated to special education use. School buildings constructed three, four, and five decades ago have crucial maintenance and safety needs. Many buildings are inadequate for an education that is in some respects far more demanding than it was three or four decades ago. A Facility Advisory Committee comprised of a broad section of Claremont citizens, was established by the Board of Education in 1998, conducted a year-long study of school buildings and sites, and found school facilities in Claremont in disrepair and in great need of modernization. Phase out elementary interdistrict transfers over the next few years.