Fire Official: Detroit School Cited for Crowding

DETROIT - A fire official says a Detroit school has been cited for overcrowding after a parent complained that too many children were in her son's kindergarten class.

Detroit Fire Department Lt. Gerod Funderburg tells The Detroit News that the fire marshal's office issued a citation Tuesday at Nolan Elementary. Funderburg didn't say how many children were in the classroom and declined to identify the specific class.

Officials from Detroit Public Schools at first said they had no information about the citation. Later Wednesday morning, however, the district emailed FOX 2 the following message:

"At this point there remain a very small number of classrooms where based on either more students showing up than expected, instances of students returning to DPS from charter or other schools after Count Day, and/or unexpected teacher retirements and resignations, there is a continued need for staff "leveling" (for example reducing teachers where two very small classes could be combined, and adding teachers where class size exceeds our standards). At all times leading up to this point and presently we have staffed conservatively to ensure fiscal responsibility while still meeting all of the academic needs."

Nolan parent Kristal Philpot said she complained Monday after about 55 students were in her son's kindergarten class.

The newspaper recently reported that excessive class sizes at some Detroit schools were a problem six weeks into the school year.

-The Associated Press contributed to this report