LANSING, Mich.- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday it’s not appropriate for kindergarten classes to have 30 students in them after a Detroit News investigation documented class sizes across Michigan that conflicted with limits set in other states and with what education experts said is best for promoting learning.
Using Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, The News found 206 elementary classes – ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade – across 49 schools over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 years that had at least 30 students in them. Among them was a kindergarten class at Bennett Elementary, where the Detroit Public Schools Community District said 30 students were enrolled.
Similarly, Lakeview Public Schools in St. Clair Shores reported having 29 students in a kindergarten class at Ardmore Elementary last year. South Canton Scholars Charter Academy, a charter school in Canton Township, disclosed an average of 28.8 students across four kindergarten classes this year. And Bangor West Elementary in Bay County said it has 27 students in one of its current kindergarten classes…