The purpose of this memo is to address the provisions and requirements of class size waivers as required by Texas Education Code (TEC) §25.112. As in prior years, schools rated as academically unacceptable are not eligible for class size waivers but must limit class size to 22 students per teacher.  HISD will capture class size enrollment for Kindergarten through Grade 4 on September 30, 2011, using the electronic capping template and Chancery SMS. 

For each school with one or more classes at Grades K-4 exceeding the allowable class size limit of 22:1, Houston ISD must submit a request for a waiver to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The law requires that the parent or guardian of each student assigned to a class exceeding the 22:1 limit be notified in writing within 31 days of approval of the waiver.  Template letters will be sent to you next Monday.  

When responding to a request for exception, or otherwise corresponding with a district regarding class size limitations, the TEA reserves the right to require that a district take certain actions as a condition of, or in response to, the exception.  Those actions may include, but are not limited to, a public hearing conducted by the board of trustees to notify the public of the status of district class sizes or a hearing conducted with the commissioner of education or his designee to address the district’s progress in meeting class size requirements.