Overcrowding in courses. such as science, where equipment and materials are used is a liability issue. The link between safety in school science facilities and the legal arena has a long history of tort litigation. Interestingly, the first lines of defense for districts, educators, school boards, and architects who build and purchase for safety, also enable excellence in science instruction.

In a Texas science classroom students were conducting an investigation using protractors. The class was well disciplined and students were quietly working at their seats. A student turned and accidentally bumped the elbow of the next student who was holding her protractor. The point penetrated the lower eyelid of the girl. The accident occurred only because there was insufficient "elbow room" to work safely.

Legal Aspects

Districts and personnel can be found negligent in three areas: malfeasance, mis-feasance, and non-feasance. Malfeasance is doing that which should not have been done. Mis-feasance is improper performance of a lawful act. Non-feasance is failure to do what should be done. Overcrowding that results in an injury could result in a finding of negligence. For example, Bush vs Oscada Area Schools, 1981, a 14 yr. old girl was burned severely when a plastic jug of alcohol exploded. The jug was used to transport alcohol to fill portable burners in a science class being taught in a non-science classroom. The principal and teacher were found negligent by the court because the facility had not been properly designed or equipped for science instruction. The principal was negligent for scheduling the class in a room with improper and inappropriate facilities and the teacher was negligent for conducting the class under inadequate and unsafe conditions.

Class Size & Student Achievement

Administrators often link class size with student achievement based on one non-replicated study in reading and math in lower elementary grades (STAR, 1990) that reported no significant increase in student achievement until the pupil-teacher ratio reaches 15:1. Realistically, this ratio is not possible within current school budgets that allocate a large percentage of their funds to non-academic extracurricular expenditures.

Fire Codes

The National Fire Protection Association's Life Safety Code 101 calls for a net occupancy of 50 square feet/person. The net space does not include fixed furniture (cabinets, demo desks, counters, etc.)

The Texas Fire Protection & Ventilation Code, Civil Statutes 4477-1: Fire extinguishing methods & devices and proper ventilation for indoor air quality must be provided in all science laboratories & storage areas.

TEA Requirements

Space is a critical factor in promoting scientific inquiry, hands-on activities, and safety for both the students and the teacher. Adequate space is required for safe and effective science instruction. High school science curriculum requires 40% of the instruction consist of lab and field investigations.

TEA requires 41 SF (square feet) per student at the elementary level for a combination science classroom/lab and 50 SF per student at the secondary level for new or renovated classrooms. This is based on a class size of 22 at the elementary level and 25 at the secondary level. If the school is small, then the smallest size a new or renovated classroom can be is 900 SF at the elementary level, 1,000 SF at the middle school level, and 1,200 SF at the high school level. If the school and class sizes are larger, then more space must be allocated. For example, in a middle school where the class size is greater than 20, then 50 SF must be added to the 1,000 SF room for each student beyond. If the middle school class size is 24, the room must be 1,200 SF.

Research Base

These minimums were based on the research that found, for example, that in a pure lab where students are conducting science activities, more accidents occur when students have less that 41 SF per student of working space and there are more than 22 students in any ONE class.

Based on the safety research, TEA, NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers), TSELA (Texas Science Education Leadership Association), and safety researchers Young (1972), Schowalter (1984), Ward and West (1990), and West (1991) recommend that no one class be any larger than 24 students. However, if the lab is too small to allow the students to work safely, then the class size must be reduced to less than 24. Additionally, every student should have a separate lab station.

Federal Requirements - ADA

The research and TEA requirements do NOT take into consideration the need for more space required by ADAAAG (Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities) for disabled students. This federal law defines a number of requirements for a lab station that essentially results in requiring the same amount of space that two non-disabled lab stations would occupy (20 SF).

Technology

The space requirements also do not take into consideration the use of technology in a modern science classroom. Technology is not just computers. The Texas Administrative Code Ch. 31, Subchapter A. defines "technology" as any piece of equipment necessary for instructional use in classroom". Good science instruction requires the use of technology. The TEA technology funds by definition can be legally spent on science equipment.

Each computer station requires about 15 SF. A multimedia projector or data projector requires about 12 SF. Additionally, there are other pieces of technical equipment , such as electronic balances, microscopes, and oscilloscopes, used in effective science instruction that require the additional space. If we want our students trained to use new technology, then we must provide the space to accommodate the equipment. (Technology)

Academic Impact

There is also an academic impact by overcrowding. Students learn science concepts best by "doing science", not reading and doing worksheets about science. Students need a high degree of interaction with the teacher for both the teacher and the students to ask questions and clarify concepts and procedures. Overcrowding almost always results in teachers reducing the amount of hands-on activities. In a time when the public is demanding higher achievement by students, overcrowding science classes will not allow students to become scientifically and technologically literate.

Discipline

Overcrowding produces discipline problems even in the best disciplined classrooms. Poor discipline inevitably results in more accidents. In a crowded classrooms teachers simply cannot see all of the students to be able to supervise them properly.

Schowalter, V.M. (Ed.)(1984). Conditions for Good Science Teaching. Arlington, VA. National Science Teachers Association.

Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR), Tennessee's K-3 Class Size Stude: Final Summary Report, 1985-1990 (1990). Nashville, TX: Tennessee State Department of Education.

Texley, J. and Wild, A.1(996). NSTA Pathways to the Science Standards, Arlington, VA., National Science Teachers Association.

Texas Education Agency (TEA) (1989). Planning a Safe and Effective Science Learning Environment. Austin, TX

19 Texas Administrative Code. Ch. 31, Sub A, § 31.002 4(A) "Technological equipment" means hardware, a device, or equipment necessary for: (A) instructional use in the classroomor (B) professional use by classroom teacher."

19 Texas Administrative Code. Chapter 61, Subchapter H (School Facilities Standards). Ch. 61.102. Texas Education Agency, Austin TX.

Young, J.R. (1972). A Second Survey of Safely in Illinois High School Laboratories. Journal of Chemical Education. 49(1). 55.

Ward, S. and West, S. (1990) Accidents in Texas High School Chemistry Labs. The Texas Science Teacher, 19(2), 14-19.

West, S. (1991, September). Lab Safety. The Science Teacher, 58(6), 45-49.