Class differences

At Tabor Academy in Marion, students learn in small groups. The average class at Tabor has 12 students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. But that’s one reason why families pay more than $30,000 in tuition each year to send their children there.

It’s a different picture in public schools, where the majority of students in Massachusetts get their education.

At the Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton, automotive repair classes are held in a spacious garage, where 26 students work on cars under the watchful eyes of three instructors. But vocational instruction cannot be given in the same setting as in most public schools, where classes are likely to be led by one instructor and the student-to-teacher ratio can be as high as 18-to-1.

In many public school districts, the classes aren’t getting any smaller. After the latest round of budget cuts, the Abington superintendent said some elementary grade classrooms will soon have more than 30 children.

Class size is a hot-button issue, one that is likely to get more attention in the months ahead as cash-strapped public school districts are forced to trim budgets and lay off teachers.

Across the state, average student-to-teacher ratios in public schools have been creeping upward since 2002, mainly due to cuts in staffing. South of Boston, student-to-teacher ratios have gone up in nearly half of the public school districts since the 2003-2004 school year (below).

“There are many more school districts seeing class sizes increase because of the fiscal situation,’’ said Thomas Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents.

But the worst may be yet to come.

“The next school year is probably going to be the most stressful budget year that we have ever seen,’’ said Scott. “In FY11 the budget is going to be very, very draining on school resources. Lots of superintendents have done huge amounts of cutting to programs, services, administrative positions. . . . I think they’re exhausting a lot of their options.’’

With less federal and state aid on the horizon, said Scott, “this could have a serious effect on class size.’’

In Massachusetts, state regulations limit class sizes for kindergartners and special education students, and there are set guidelines for vocational courses. Beyond that, class sizes vary widely.

There is no magic number when it comes to class size, but most educators and parents agree smaller is better.

Most public schools strive to keep class sizes to fewer than 25 students, according to Scott.

“When you push beyond those numbers, you are really, on average, challenging the teacher to be able to give students the kind of attention parents want their kids to get,’’ he said.

At Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, as many as 33 students sit in a classroom, and many elementary grade classrooms have upward of 30 students. The district has one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios in the state: 18 students per teacher.

“I’m not happy about that,’’ said Bridgewater-Raynham Schools Superintendent Jacqueline B. Forbes.

The district has lost 92 teachers since 2002, and recently had to cut 61 positions, which included 43 teaching jobs.

“We’ve eliminated 42.5 [teaching] positions due to budget cuts - that’s a significant reduction in teaching positions,’’ said Forbes. “That has increased our student-to-teacher ratio.’’

Forbes said she doesn’t expect those jobs to come back anytime soon.

“I don’t see it in the near future,’’ she said. “We have no other place in the budget to go.’’

For now, Forbes is focusing on maintaining smaller class sizes for Bridgewater-Raynham’s youngest students - those in kindergarten and the first and second grades.

“Certainly we don’t like class sizes of 30 or more for third-graders,’’ said Forbes. “But we know it has a more detrimental impact at K, 1, and 2.’’

Vocational training programs will continue to have smaller classes and lower student-to-teacher ratios. State guidelines regulate the size of certain vocational and technical classes in terms of both number of students and the measurements of the classroom itself.

Auto-repair courses, for example, are limited to 15 students per teacher, and the shop must be at least 4,125 square feet, with 18-foot ceilings.

“Vocational programs, by their very nature . . . some are dangerous,’’ said Joseph A. Ciccolo, superintendent of Blue Hills Regional Technical School. “For safety’s sake, you have to be careful. This is not hobby shop stuff.’’

Last year, the Blue Hills Regional School District had the lowest student-to-teacher ratio in the region: fewer than 10 students per teacher. Ciccolo said he attributes this to the fact that, aside from being a vocational-technical school, Blue Hills has a significant number of special education students, 25 percent of its enrollment. State regulations require classrooms with special education students to have fewer than 20 pupils while classes with six or more special ed students cannot exceed 15 pupils.

Whatever their numbers, public school officials are bracing for what the future will bring in the midst of a prolonged economic slump. They will try to preserve teaching positions and maintain class sizes, but in many systems, like Abington’s, they will face tough choices.

Abington eliminated 42 school jobs this summer, and more cuts are on the way: The schools have been asked to trim $771,756 from the current fiscal 2010 budget. Abington Schools Superintendent Peter Schafer said 15 positions are slated to disappear as a result.

At Abington High, class sizes are in the mid-20s; in grades 5 through 8, classes have about 30 students. After this latest round of cuts, said Schafer, class sizes in some elementary grades will rise to the mid-30s.

“The situation is difficult,’’ he said. “There’s no way for us to avoid cutting teachers and classroom positions.’’

Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com.