Report card learning curve to be addressed

By Matthew Bernat
Turley Publications Staff Writer

STURBRIDGE- Parents searching for answers about revamped report cards will find them at the School Committee’s May meeting.
“(The new report cards) created a lot of questions and a lot of buzz and that buzz is here,” said School Committee Chairwoman Katherine Alexander, noting committee members discovered they had questions of their own. “We’re getting questions, but we just don’t know anything about it,” she said at last week’s committee meeting.
Starting this fall, the traditional, age-old letter grading system will be phased out in kindergarten through sixth grade classes across the Tantasqua/Union 61 district.
Instead, students will be assessed with a “standards-based” system. This system is already being used in Brookfield and Wales.
A primary concern school committee members expressed was whether or not they would have a vote on the matter. During the public comment portion of the meeting physical education teacher and resident Bill Emrich shared a similar concern.
“Who ultimately makes this decision - is it just solely the superintendent?” Emrich asked.
Alexander said her committee wanted to determine the answer to that.
Associate Superintendent Ted Friend, who was there in Superintendent Daniel Durgin’s place, said setting report card standards could fall to administrators.
“In my opinion I would say this is outside your purview,” he said. Durgin will have more details at the committee’s Thursday, May 6 meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. in Burgess Elementary School’s media room. A presentation on the new report cards will be held at that time.
“Whether we vote on it or not doesn’t mean we can’t affect change,” Alexander said.
Friend went on to explain how the new report cards were being drafted. Teachers from each grade level have been meeting once a month to examine the standards that must be taught. They then determine what the most important standards are and what order to teach them. A report card will then be created and presented to district school committees.
Friend said most school districts already employ the new system. Officials wanted consistency for report card grading throughout the district, he said.
“Change is always difficult and this is a substantial change from what we as adults were used to. This is a new world we’re really entering in and in many ways we’re a little behind the curve on this,” Friend said.

New bullying policy

A new law changing how schools deal with bullies had committee members contemplating what that means for elementary students.
The State Senate recently passed anti-bullying legislation with an aim at promoting a safe and productive learning environment for students.
The bill prohibits physical, verbal and written acts that threaten or cause harm to another student, including Internet “cyber-bullying.” The bill requires school districts to develop prevention and intervention plans by Dec. 31, 2010 that include procedures for investigating bullying incidents, notifying parents and determining appropriate disciplinary actions.
The bill was passed following the death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, a South Hadley High School student believed to have hanged herself in January as the result of intensive bullying at school. Prince was an Irish immigrant who enrolled in September after moving to the area.
A number of students are now facing charges that range from civil rights violations to statutory rape as a result of their alleged bullying.
To meet the requirements of the law Friend said administrators were close to having new policy drafted.
Alexander said she wanted to make sure the committee would be able to tailor that policy to fit elementary school student needs.
“I don’t necessarily think the policy looks the same for a twelfth grader as it needs to look for a kindergarten student,” she said.
Friend noted that from an administrative perspective rolling out policy from the central office makes the most sense. It’s then the duty of each individual committee to determine if it’s a proper fit.
“It’s incumbent upon you to really look and say ‘does this match what should be in place at the elementary school as opposed to a junior high and high school’,” he said.
Policy is often drafted to be generic in many cases, he said. What matters are the procedures for handling how individual schools deal with bullying. All agreed the issue had a high profile and needed to be dealt with.
“It’s everywhere. The ‘bully’ word,” Friend said.

School committee vacancy

Committeewoman Dawn Pratt was recognized last week for her two years of service to the school committee. Friend presented her with a plaque and congratulated her for her commitment.
Her absence sparked a brief discussion about the lack of candidates for the soon to be open committee seat. Alexander noted no one stepped forward to formally announce a run. Also, no one was tapped at the recent town caucuses, she said.
If a write-in candidate is not elected the board of selectmen will have to wait for a resident to step forward and ask to be appointed.