I’ve been tracking the complaint of Standley Middle School “granma” LaRu DeKock as a test case of how little problems get solved in a big district like San Diego Unified. DeKock complained in late September that her granddaughter is packed into a crowded history class of 40 students.
She got a speedy response from Superintendent Terry Grier and several school board members promising to look into the problem. We’ve followed her complaint over the past two weeks, and it sounds like a solution is nearly here.
Standley Principal Heidi Eastcott Lyon said her school enrollment was larger than expected and has already picked out a teacher to split the crowded class. But there’s still some bureaucracy to barrel through. Lyon said she is coordinating with the school district to get that teacher, hopefully within the next five to ten working days.
This problem arises every fall, Lyon said, because schools have trouble predicting exactly how many students will walk through their doors.
“Everybody has been working diligently to solve the problem and I was aware of it beforehand,” Lyon said. “We’ve been working on it.”