More than 40 parents attended the October 20 School Board meeting, where Superintendent David Aderhold spoke at length to explain recent and proposed changes in the district that have exposed sharply divided views among parents.
Attendance has increased at school board meetings since the district’s presentation on the Gifted & Talented (G&T) program at the September 8 board meeting. Aderhold, who sent a 16-page letter to district parents on October 16, met with a mixed response as he outlined his vision for the district.
Numerous parents praised Aderhold’s letter, which emphasized the importance of developing a student’s social and emotional health in addition to academics, raising the issue of hyper-achievement and the resulting high-stress atmosphere in the district.
Other parents expressed concern that changes, in particular the proposed elimination of the Accelerated & Enriched (A&E) Math program for grades four and five, would weaken the curriculum.
A first draft “re-design” of the A&E program was discussed at the October 13 Curriculum Committee meeting. Reported committee chair Dana Krug: “This discussion included the sequence of courses from grades 6 to 12 remaining the same as is currently in place. A variety of mechanisms to provide differentiated instructional support for students in grades 4-5 was reviewed.
“In addition, the committee discussed the need for new criteria for assessment of students in grade 5 to be developed and piloted. The goal of the new identification procedures would be to increase access so that more students would have access to the program starting in sixth grade.”
At the October 20 meeting board president Tony Fleres announced the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, Martin Smith, would present a draft of the district’s G&T program action plan at the Tuesday, November 3, board meeting. Public comments on the program would be heard then and at the November 17 meeting. The December 15 meeting will be “the first opportunity for the board to vote on it,” Fleres said.
Aderhold spoke for more than 20 minutes on the district’s commitment to educating the “whole child” and finding an appropriate balance for academic achievement and social and emotional development. Proposed policy changes, and those already effected, are based the district’s valuing of the development of the “whole child.”
“When we focus only on academics, we fail our child,” Aderhold said, emphasizing that the focus on the “whole child” is “not a trade-off, not mutually exclusive with academic achievement.”
In his letter, Aderhold praised WW-P student achievement but wrote: “I cannot help but think that we may be failing them by reinforcing an educational system that perpetuates grades at the expense of deep and meaningful learning … The perpetual achievement machine continues to demand higher scores and greater success each passing year,” creating a system where “learning takes a back-seat to academic success.”
At the meeting, Aderhold identified the college admissions process as a source of stress, and he noted his letter also did not address issues of student diet, drug use, and lack of sleep. He said 120 middle school and high school students were sent for mental health assessments during the 2014-’15 school year, figures also included in the letter.
After the meeting Aderhold said last academic school year was the first year the district began a centralized collection of trend data on mental health screenings, which was prompted by a dozen district students being sent for evaluation in the month of September, 2014.
Several parents thanked Aderhold for the letter and expressed support, including a few who wore buttons saying “Take Back Childhood.” The group, founded by parent Catherine Foley, supports the vision statement outlined in Aderhold’s letter, and is an advocate for the “whole child.”
“The pressure to exceed is affecting my son. There is also academic teasing of those who don’t get A’s,” said Joy Horton, whose son is in high school. “We need to back whole child. The consequences of not doing so can be tragic.”
Heather Nielsen said her daughter asked to withdraw from sixth grade A&E. “Math was touted as the only pursuit,” Nielsen said, adding that there have been students with panic attacks. One child, she said, was afraid of returning home after receiving less than an A grade.
Another parent commented that her son had anxiety while in third grade at Maurice Hawk. Pamela Rubbo said when her son’s third grade teacher asked how many parents enroll their kids in after-school math and reading programs during Back-to-School night, more than half the parents raised their hands. Students enrolled in these courses advance beyond the grade level curriculum, which pressures teachers and other students, she says.
Other parents acknowledged student stress, but questioned whether the district’s changes are the correct response. In addition to the high-profile A&E program, there have been concerns raised about changes that have already been implemented, such as the elimination of midterms and finals.
One parent, Yan Zheng wrote to The News in support of performance requirements for music concert participation, a practice that was eliminated last academic year. He wrote: “It is not like the teachers posted this requirement and the kids were on their own to learn the pieces. By putting up this requirement, the teachers had also taken more responsibilities themselves. They had spent extra time to help the kids since the majority of the orchestra kids were without private teachers. And the results have been amazing!”
Since the district’s G&T recommendations were released, many parents have opposed changes to the A&E program, which currently runs from grades four through eight.
One parent has a daughter in elementary school who he hopes would be able to benefit from the A&E program. “I’m not sure if she enjoys math, but if she does I hope she has a chance to enter the program,” Wen Gao said.
“I feel it is against the whole child paradigm to eliminate grade four and five A&E,” said Yunqing Li, who added that as a trained statistician she questioned the district report’s data and conclusions. “You are essentially excluding students from being a whole child.”
“With high stress levels, why are we killing traditional curriculum programs?” said Peter Syrek, adding that there are other areas of stress including sports and relationships. He suggested hiring life balance coaches instead of revamping the curriculum.
“There are always people who will do better than me. Do I feel stressed? No,” said Jie Gao. “Competition is a good thing. It rewards hard work and talent. Cutting programs hurts diversity. Cutting programs to reduce stress is flawed.”
In response to the use of sports metaphors comparing the G&T program to athletics, Aderhold said, “The burn out rate in athletics is just as high. The same push in academics is happening in athletics.” He added that some athletics programs in the district are nearing their minimum enrollment requirements, due to the trend of parents shifting participation away from school sports and toward competitive travel teams.
He ended his response by noting the mental health assessments for anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts he has encountered.
“It may not affect your kid,” Aderhold said, but “they are all my kids, all 10,000 of them.”
Fleres also weighed in after the public comments. He said his youngest daughter graduated last summer and would be considered an “average” student in the district, but since matriculating this fall she has excelled at her college calculus course.
“WW-P makes smart kids feel stupid,” Fleres said. “We have a lot of kids here who are really smart, but they are made to feel they aren’t good enough.”
In other news, Gerard Dalton, assistant superintendent of pupil services and planning, presented the district’s annual report Violence, Vandalism, and Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Report. There were 67 reported incidents in the 2014-’15 school year, up from the 44 incidents from 2013-’14 but fewer than the 80 reported in 2012-’13.
Violence and vandalism remained roughly the same, but there was an increase of HIB incidents to 21 in 2014-’15, 13 more than two years ago. Incidents involving weapons increased to five incidents, up from one in 2013-’14, and substance abuse increased to 17, six more than 2013-’14.
The most challenging HIB cases, Dalton said, involved students and their smart phones after school and at home. He suggested parents have guidelines for children and remove phones from bedrooms at night.
The board approved the report 8-0, as well as all other items on the agenda. Board member Yingchao Zhang was absent.
