MARIETTA - The State Board of Education voted Monday morning to lift its regulation on maximum class sizes for the 2010-11 school year. However, Cobb school board Chairwoman Lynnda Crowder-Eagle said she does not expect the district will try to exceed current classroom limits.

"I haven't heard that any board member wants to do that. I think going up to the maximum of the state is as high as we want to go," Crowder-Eagle said.

District spokesman Jay Dillon wrote via e-mail on Monday that the district does not anticipate needing to increase class sizes further, since it has already asked the state for increases and budgeted accordingly.

"In Cobb, we anticipated the need to increase class sizes for the coming school year and planned accordingly by seeking waivers last fall and earlier this spring," Dillon wrote. "We built next year's budget around the class-size increases requested in these waivers, with the expectation that either the waivers would be approved or the state DOE would issue a blanket exemption, as it did today. In Cobb, we do not anticipate a need to increase class sizes further than what we've already requested ... Many classes will see a marginal increase of two or three, and in some cases four of five students, but we don't foresee any overflowing classrooms or unmanageable situations."

Dillon said Superintendent Fred Sanderson was unavailable for comment.

The change will have no effect in Marietta City Schools, because of that district's charter status.

The Cobb school board voted 6-1, with Alison Bartlett dissenting, at its May 12 meeting to increase class sizes to the then-state maximum level of one teacher for every 22 students in kindergarten; 23-to-1 for grades one through three; 30-to-1 in grades four and five; 30-to-1 in sixth through eighth; and 32-to-1 in grades nine through 12. The increases resulted in the layoff of more than 1,000 teachers. While estimates have ranged as high as 40 students per class, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Steve Constantino said at a recent budget meeting that those estimates were premature, and that the number of students in a class most likely would not reach that high.

Still, the limits are averages, which means some classes will have more students and some less.

The 12-member state BOE voted 10-2 Monday to lift regulations on maximum class sizes in Georgia. Members Elizabeth Ragsdale and Linda Zechman, who both represent the southern part of the state, dissented. Matt Cardoza, Georgia DOE spokesman, said the deregulation is only for one year and would require another vote from the state BOE to extend it.

The board released a statement about its vote, saying it recognizes the need to give school systems more flexibility in a tough economy. All school districts will be required to submit a resolution to the state department of education before increasing class sizes above the current state-mandated limits. A district must also approve any such increase at its own school board meeting.

Connie Jackson, a special education teacher at Griffin Middle School in Smyrna, and president-elect of the Cobb Association of Educators, said she was shocked by the elimination of maximum class sizes.

"I was stunned and very dismayed," Jackson said. "By eliminating class size limits, you open the door for someone to abuse the policy. Even when we had a system-wide average, the class size averages weren't equal across the county, and now they won't be equal across the state."

Jackson worried that class sizes would be the first place superintendents would go when forced to reduce the budget.

"If you're a superintendent or administrator and you're looking to cut costs, then that's an easy way to do it," she said. "We've already cut teachers in Cobb. Are we going to cut more now that we can increase the amount of kids in it? The discipline is going to be horrendous, and I predict that the testing scores are going to go down."

Margaret Jones, a freshman and sophomore English teacher at Harrison High School, agreed with Jackson, and said she hasn't spoken to a single teacher in the system that is not concerned about the state's recent action.

"There's no way we can get to that many students," Jones said. "I don't even know how we can fit that many desks. When rats start killing each other it's when there are too many in the cage. They need space."

Jones, a 24-year veteran teacher, has taught in Cobb for nine years and previously taught in private schools, where class sizes are often capped at a much lower rate. She says increasing class sizes is not only an issue for low-achieving students, but also for those who are over-achievers. Jones worries that those students won't reach their maximum potential, because teachers won't have enough time to challenge students.

"I'm concerned that they're not concerned. It's just all about the money," Jones said of the school district and state board of education.

Todd Niemeier, a parent of three sons at Walton High School and Dickerson Middle School, said he often volunteers at the schools and has seen overcrowded classrooms, which he considers a safety hazard.

"I'm wondering if these board members have gone around and toured these schools," Niemeier said. "Explain to me how they're going to increase these class sizes when there's no room in the classrooms? It's a fire hazard. It's a safety issue. I've witnessed it."