For homeowners with school-aged children, get used to larger class sizes.  as the Generally Assembly enacts major budget cuts this year. In Fairfax County, increasingly large classes in local schools could begin to threaten student safety as well as student learning, according to school officials.

Fairfax County schools superintendent Jack Dale said local class sizes are getting to a point where officials would have to be careful about going over the maximum capacity allowed in some classrooms.

"Quite frankly, we are getting to the point in some schools where we are pushing the envelope in terms of the fire code," said Dale, during a budget presentation to the Fairfax County School Board Jan. 7.

Schools are being forced to cram 35 to 38 students into classrooms that were built to a 28-person capacity, said Dean Tistadt, Fairfax County Public Schools chief operating officer.

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