HUGHESVILLE - Casey Snyder, a parent with two children in East Lycoming School District, had something to say before the school board voted 5 to 4 to reject the middle school curriculum as recommended by school administration Tuesday night.
"I have one in third and one in seventh grade," said the Wolf Township resident amidst a crowded Hughesville High School library minutes before the vote was taken and attempts were made to find a solution to what has led to division in this community for more than a year now.
The real sticking point appears to be what some perceive as a lack of honors courses to challenge seventh and eighth graders.
However, it is apparent that room for compromise exists and conciliatory language rather than divisiveness ruled the meeting.
Voting against the middle school curriculum as recommended were: Dr. Amy Rogers, Tom Hess, Diane Santo, Renee Laychur and Debra Sherlinski.
In favor of the recommendation by the administration were: board president Richard Michael, Kelli Shaner-Gordner, Lea Ann Hawk and Donna Gavitt.
Citing e-mail correspondence he received from those who conducted research that supported and showed success stories of ability grouping for junior high school students, Casey claimed the researchers believed differentiated instruction was off-track and outdated and some methodology was as old as 20 years.
The research, he said, is saying, "we're doing it wrong here," Casey said, before he asked the board to look at that research and take that information and objectively incorporate it into its decision.
"We didn't get rid of honors curriculum," said Dr. Susan L. Bigger, district superintendent. "We made it available to everyone."
Bigger said where the district departs on the issue with some parents is the belief there is only one way to provide a challenging curriculum, with the method of tracking students into sections of similarly capable peers.
"Teachers use ability grouping within their classrooms," she said. It may take the form of a challenging project, extended research, science experiment, demanding reading material or a complex math problem.
Bigger also supported the theory that a limited amount of research supports tracking.
"It is easy to get it wrong," she said of students are who still maturing and developing as adolescents.
Others, such as sixth grade teacher Jane Reynolds, said that as a parent, teacher and taxpayer she has seen trends come and go for 28 years and the board should keep the current curriculum and vote for the recommendations by the administration.
"I strongly believe ability grouping in middle school is not in the best interest of all the students," Reynolds said, also describing that she has witnessed how special needs students have an impact on entire classes. To alienate is wrong, Reynolds suggested. "All children must have access to equal education."
The handout of recommended changes are to keep the current 2009-2010 scheduled and curriculum for all seventh and eighth grade students.
There would be:
Core academic subjects of language arts, math, science and social studies.
Extension courses of math, writing and vocabulary, a Socratic seminar and reading and math intervention.
Elective courses would have slight alterations. They would be:
A health and physical education course to be added to the grades as a core course. Students will receive a health and physical education all year, which will meet every other day.
Health and physical education will be removed from the elective choice list, allowing an additional elective choice for all students, eight choices in all, and four selected per year.
Plenty of room exists for agreed-to changes, as Hess wrote down in his explanation offering a compromise.
In fact, Hess and some others who dissented are leaning toward agreeing to an accelerated course of mathematics for seventh and eighth graders, consisting of one or two levels.
Hess said he believe those changes could be done without changing extensions.
He also suggested enlarging the language arts or extending science.
"Education is constantly changing," Hess said. "We shouldn't be afraid of change."
Several outside factors, such as standardized Keystone Exams will require administrators to constantly review curriculum, according to Hess.
"I will defer to what the administration can come up with schedule-wise," he said.
Hess also supports seventh graders becoming required to be exposed to music, art, industrial arts and library and once in eighth grade choosing two of the four for a half-year as they begin to see what they enjoy studying.
Rogers said she taught under the "old honors system," and didn't like going against the administration.
"I truly believe you need ability grouping in math," she said. "Also, I believe in differentiated instruction."
Laychur said she was for about 90 percent of the recommendation but pointed to US News and World Report that looked at schools where junior high students were excelling and it included schools that taught different levels of math.
Sherlinski said the district has the best and brightest as well as compassionate faculty, but she was in favor of compromise in two core subject areas.
Before voters went to the election polls, she said, she made it clear she was in favor of ability grouping.
Sherlinski noted her opinion was offering extension courses were not true compromise.
As a board member, she said, she was concerned for the bottom quarter of students, the top and those in the middle, as well as ensuring the top-performing quarter are challenged.
"Globally," she said, "We're not up to that." But Sherlinski was equally disturbed by the divisive matter turning neighbor against neighbor.
"There can be no more rumors, gossip and intimidation," she said.
It appears the board may be reaching a compromise to preserve seventh grade math and have eighth grade math with an accelerated option and keep the math extension.
For eighth grade sections, criteria may be applied after teacher recommendation and parental input.
Assistant Superintendent Robin Musto said results of a survey are online on a district Web site of questions related directly to junior high curriculum in the handbook.
More parents, teachers and students agreed with the proposed schedule than were in favor of changing it, she said.
Musto said one can extrapolate however he or she feels but she said 100 percent of the administration recommends continuing with the courses as proposed, with rigorous core curriculum opportunities for all students.
Musto added that supplemented extension programs provide up to 270 hours of higher-level math and writing opportunities, reading, science and social studies core enrichment as well as remediation services for students needing repetition.
The next board meeting is March 23.
