(1) DEFINITIONS.
(a) Areas of Exceptionality – Areas of exceptionality with maximum class sizes are as follows.
1. S/L: Speech-Language Impairment
2. D/HH: Deaf/Hard of Hearing
3. LD: Specific Learning Disability
4. EBD: Emotional and Behavioral Disorder
5. MID: Mild Intellectual Disability
6. SID: Severe Intellectual Disability
7. MOID: Moderate Intellectual Disability
8. OI: Orthopedic Impairment
9. PID: Profound Intellectual Disability
10. VI: Visual Impairment
11. DB: Deaf-Blind
12. SED: Severe, Emotional and Behavioral Disorder
13. SDD: Significant Developmental Delay
(b) Early Intervention Program (EIP) – Program to serve students in grades K through 5 who are at risk of not reaching or maintaining academic grade level to obtain the necessary skills to reach grade-level performance in the shortest possible time as specified in Rule 160-4-2-.17 Early Intervention Program.
(c) Gifted Advanced Content Delivery Model – Achievement-grouped advanced classes in academic content areas. The curriculum is differentiated in content, pacing, process-skills emphasis, and expectation of student achievement to provide challenge for gifted learners. (Examples: middle school Algebra I; Honors/AP/IB courses)
(d) Gifted Resource Class Delivery Model – Classes for gifted students that emphasize interdisciplinary enrichment. Although the curriculum has academic content, the instruction focuses on thinking skills, problem solving, research and communication skills, and creative productivity. (Example: Elementary Pull-Out Enrichment Class)
(e) Individual Class Size Funding Ratio – The number of students needed to earn state funds, calculated on the base amount, to pay for a single class in each of the QBE formula programs.
(f) Instructional Extension – a state-funded instructional program beyond the regular school day to address the academic needs of low-performing students. (g) Maximum Individual Class Size – Maximum number of students that may be taught by a teacher in a class segment.
(h) Physical Classroom — The maximum class size for grades K-3 is applicable to the physical classroom. The physical classroom is the space used for the purposes of instruction to students. By way of example, to have more than twenty-one students in a K-3 classroom will require a divider, temporary or permanent. Whether the partition is temporary or permanent, the system shall obtain the approval of the fire marshal and the Facilities Division at the Georgia Department of Education.
(i) Remedial Education Program – an instructional program designed for students in grades 6-12 who have identified deficiencies in reading, writing, and math as identified by Rule 160-4- 5-.01 Remedial Education
(j) Resource Delivery Model – Instruction for students with disabilities outside the regular classroom for three or fewer segments of the instructional day.
(k) Self-Contained Delivery Model – Instruction for students with disabilities in one area of exceptionality for four or more segments of the instructional day.
(2) REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Local boards of education and schools shall comply with maximum class sizes and schedules listed in Appendices A-F.
(b) Paraprofessionals may be used to increase class size only as provided in the appendices. Local boards of education shall ensure that state funds earned for paraprofessionals in kindergarten shall be used to provide paraprofessional services to all kindergarten classes.
(c) Local boards of education not complying with maximum class size requirements shall be subject to a loss of funding for the entire class or program that is out of compliance. A school shall not count for FTE purposes any class that exceeds the maximum class size as provided in the appendices. However, a school shall count vocational labs and remedial classes that exceed maximum class size only as regular classes, provided they do not exceed the maximum regular class size.
(d) The number of students taught by a teacher at any time after the first 15 school days of a school year may not exceed the maximum such number unless requested authorization for a specific larger number is approved by the State Board. The State Board may approve a request only in the limited circumstances where educationally justified and where an act of God or other unforeseen event led to the precipitous rise in enrollment within that system, or led to another occurrence which resulted in the local board’s inability to comply with the maximum class size requirement. The State Board may approve requests for increases to maximum individual class sizes only. It shall not approve requests for increases to system average class sizes and it shall not approve requests for language arts, math, science, or social studies in grades 9-12.
(e) The maximum class size for the kindergarten and primary grades programs is defined as the number of students in a physical classroom. The maximum individual class size for all other purposes shall be defined as the maximum number of students that may be taught by a teacher in a class segment.
(f) Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, each local board of education shall establish maximum class sizes for general education programs in mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts for grades 9 through 12 that shall not exceed the funding size by more than 39 percent (see Appendix A) and shall annually report to the state board and to each school council in its school system such class sizes established. Compliance with maximum class size requirements for all other subjects in grades 9-12 shall be determined by the system average for applicable programs and grades. Individual class size for such programs and grades shall not exceed the applicable maximum system average by more than two students.