The future for the funds that the district receives through the Federal Class Size Reduction program is also unclear at this time. Growth is occurring in the area east of I-90. The district is reserving space at Kennedy and Elvehjem Elementary Schools for students from the area known as the Sprecher neighborhood. The size of an elementary class is different at SAGE schools compared with other district schools. SAGE is being implemented in 22 elementary schools over a three year period, with kindergarten and first grade benefiting from reduced class size the first year.
Second grade is added the second year of implementation and third grade is added in the third year.
The SAGE program, when fully implemented, impacts kindergarten through third grade only. Kindergarten and first grade will have a class size of 15 students to one teacher. The model used to implement grades two and three are dependent upon the poverty level of the school. For the district's poorest schools with poverty levels exceeding 50 percent, second and third graders will be in classes of 15 students all day. For most of the SAGE schools poverty is less than 50 percent and the SAGE program will reduce class size to 15 students during reading, language arts and math only.