WILMOT — Exceeding the recommended size for kindergarten classes has forced the Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated School District to seek a waiver from the state.

Under the state’s Student Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, kindergarten classes must have no more than 15 students per teacher. Trevor-Wilmot’s three kindergarten classes this year are 16, 17 and 17.

But Administrator George Steffen said that was due to lack of space at Wilmot Primary Center.

“We decreased the number of sections of 5-year-old kindergarten from four to three this year,” Steffen said. “We did not have an open classroom to make another section.”

Districts exceeding the 15-pupil enrollment standard are required to hold a public hearing on the issue and apply for a waiver from the state. A lack of classroom space is taken into consideration by the state when considering the request.

A waiver can be granted for up to four years; however, the Department of Public Instruction may impose specific conditions that must be met.

The district expects to get $182,250 this school year from the SAGE program, designed to promote academic achievement through lower class sizes in the primary grades.

Schools receive state aid equal to $2,250 for each low-income K-3 child. About one-third of the K-3 students at Wilmot Primary Center fit this category.

Steffen added that the SAGE grant money does not completely cover the cost of maintaining low class sizes. But, the district has made a commitment to do so in the lower grades, and the added revenue helps.

In order to maintain the 15-to-1 student-teacher ratio, the district has had to hire an additional teacher at each grade level.