Comments to MCCSC Board, September 2014
My name is Ross E Martinie Eiler, and I am here on behalf of my seven-year-old son, P. Martinie-Eiler, as well as my younger daughter T. (who is four) and my son S. (who is one month old).
Our son P. is bright and well-behaved. He is reading and writing above his second-grade level. He shows equal natural competency for mathematics. He is for the most part very obedient and respectful to adults and other children alike.
P. attended Fairview Elementary in 2012-13 as a half-time Kindergartener. Our family felt very positive about this experience. Our conversations with his teacher during that time, and since, affirmed his place in the class. The half-time schedule facilitated more family time, enabled us to better incorporate the children into the life of our religious community, and allowed us both to provide individual instruction for our son and incorporate unique curricular elements into his education.
During the summer of 2013, we requested that P. attend Fairview as a part-time first grader. We were told that, due to the recently revised MCCSC policy, there would be no part-time students. We therefore homeschooled Paul during the 2013-14 year.
We are blessed to be able to offer home-schooling opportunities to our children, and we enjoy the experience. However, we believe in the value and importance of public schools in Bloomington and we missed the ability to connect with our neighbors and the wider community.
In June of this year, then, our family again appealed for part-time enrollment. I was surprised at that time to discover the wording of policy 9270 is that “The Superintendent may deny the enrollment of a student from… less than a full time schedule.” The wording of the policy presumes the enrollment of such students, with denial being the exception.
After an unusually difficult process, I was able to arrange a meeting with Judy DeMuth, Tammy Miller & Timothy Thrasher. Superintendent DeMuth made it clear at the meeting that she would categorically exercise the option to deny enrollment to all part-time students in MCCSC.
I am here this evening because I continue to believe that not only would a part-time public school arrangement be good for our son, but, in general, the practice of welcoming and encouraging high-achieving part-time students is in the best interest of Fairview elementary school.
This summer, as part of a series on Fairview, the Bloomington Herald Times featured Murdock Elementary School in Lafayette as a model elementary school with similar problems to Fairview that achieved a great turn-around. Edward Eiler was the superintendent who orchestrated that turnaround (and who is speaking tomorrow at the Rise Above the Mark film showing). Dr. Eiler said to me of Murdock Elementary: “If a high-achieving student from our district asked to attend our lowest-graded school, we would have bent over backwards to get that student in that school.” In this instance, MCCSC does not need to bend over backwards; it simply needs to stop blocking the door.
Part-time students who are performing above grade-level and whose parents are willing to cooperate with teachers and officials stand to benefit the public schools, especially struggling schools like Fairview. The benefits of giving teachers the ability to welcome high-performing half-day students into their classes – the increased test scores, increased recognition of teacher efficiency by the state, a stable invested family in the school community, and a testament that MCCSC welcomes high-performing students into its lower-graded schools – are greater than the potential drawbacks.
In my meeting with Superintedent DeMuth, she cited two main concerns: Continuity in instruction and the desires of teachers.
Superintendent DeMuth claimed that modern curriculum is so interconnected that a half-day student could not adapt without being a burden to the classroom. However, in conversations with teachers, staff and parents, we have consistently been told – at least in the second grade – that Fairview is currently utilizing a distinct separation in daily instruction: language arts in taught in the morning, mathematic instruction happens in the afternoons. The claim that a half-day student would be irretrievably lost seems overblown; a morning half-day student would simply study language arts at Fairview and mathematics at home.
Even if concerns about curricular continuity are justified; there is surely likewise a corollary: a half-day student by nature also requires less individual attention. It’s one less math quiz to grade, one less raised hand with a question about mushrooms, one less kid in line for the computer. If a child demonstrates grade-level proficiency, there should be no deficiencies in the child that demand a burdensome level of teacher attention or individual instruction.
In our meeting, Superintendent DeMuth also stated, “This is a teacher issue, not an administrative issue.” I fully support leaving this decision with teachers. If a teacher finds a partial-day student’s presence a distraction in their class, that child should not be in their class. However, given the sad reality that teachers and schools are judged in part by student test scores, I believe that there are several teachers who would welcome a slam-dunk passing test score that they only have to teach for half a day. The Superintendent, in our meeting, chose not to answer this following question, but I will pose it to this board: If a teacher would want a high-performing half-day student in his or her class, why would the administration block it?
I am asking and advising this board, then, to modify Policy #9270 by adding the following sentences. “Enrollment should not be denied to students who perform at or above grade level across academic areas, and whose guardians will cooperate with teachers and school administrators in the support of the student and the school. The Corporation will respect any individual teachers’ request that partial-day students not be placed in their classroom.”
If this board is unable or unwilling to add this clarifier to the policy, I would at least encourage this board to establish a formal process for pursuing exceptions to policies which include contingent language (e.g., that found in policy 9270: “may deny…”). Such cases - by definition - require a judgment call, and there should be a process that allows parents contact and transparency with the school administration, and which takes into consideration the actual realities of the students and the teachers.
I thank you for your time and deliberation.
* * * *
Current Policy 9270:
The Superintendent may deny the enrollment of a resident student from a non-accredited or home school in less than a full time schedule. Students denied enrollment shall not be eligible for participation in extra-curricular programs of the Corporation.
Proposed Policy 9270:
The Superintendent may deny the enrollment of a resident student from a non-accredited or home school in less than a full time schedule. Enrollment should not be denied to students who perform at or above grade level across academic areas, and whose guardians will cooperate with teachers and school administrators in the support of the student and the school. The Corporation will respect any individual teachers’ request that partial-day students not be placed in their classroom. Students denied enrollment shall not be eligible for participation in extra-curricular programs of the Corporation.
My name is Ross E Martinie Eiler, and I am here on behalf of my seven-year-old son, P. Martinie-Eiler, as well as my younger daughter T. (who is four) and my son S. (who is one month old).
Our son P. is bright and well-behaved. He is reading and writing above his second-grade level. He shows equal natural competency for mathematics. He is for the most part very obedient and respectful to adults and other children alike.
P. attended Fairview Elementary in 2012-13 as a half-time Kindergartener. Our family felt very positive about this experience. Our conversations with his teacher during that time, and since, affirmed his place in the class. The half-time schedule facilitated more family time, enabled us to better incorporate the children into the life of our religious community, and allowed us both to provide individual instruction for our son and incorporate unique curricular elements into his education.
During the summer of 2013, we requested that P. attend Fairview as a part-time first grader. We were told that, due to the recently revised MCCSC policy, there would be no part-time students. We therefore homeschooled Paul during the 2013-14 year.
We are blessed to be able to offer home-schooling opportunities to our children, and we enjoy the experience. However, we believe in the value and importance of public schools in Bloomington and we missed the ability to connect with our neighbors and the wider community.
In June of this year, then, our family again appealed for part-time enrollment. I was surprised at that time to discover the wording of policy 9270 is that “The Superintendent may deny the enrollment of a student from… less than a full time schedule.” The wording of the policy presumes the enrollment of such students, with denial being the exception.
After an unusually difficult process, I was able to arrange a meeting with Judy DeMuth, Tammy Miller & Timothy Thrasher. Superintendent DeMuth made it clear at the meeting that she would categorically exercise the option to deny enrollment to all part-time students in MCCSC.
I am here this evening because I continue to believe that not only would a part-time public school arrangement be good for our son, but, in general, the practice of welcoming and encouraging high-achieving part-time students is in the best interest of Fairview elementary school.
This summer, as part of a series on Fairview, the Bloomington Herald Times featured Murdock Elementary School in Lafayette as a model elementary school with similar problems to Fairview that achieved a great turn-around. Edward Eiler was the superintendent who orchestrated that turnaround (and who is speaking tomorrow at the Rise Above the Mark film showing). Dr. Eiler said to me of Murdock Elementary: “If a high-achieving student from our district asked to attend our lowest-graded school, we would have bent over backwards to get that student in that school.” In this instance, MCCSC does not need to bend over backwards; it simply needs to stop blocking the door.
Part-time students who are performing above grade-level and whose parents are willing to cooperate with teachers and officials stand to benefit the public schools, especially struggling schools like Fairview. The benefits of giving teachers the ability to welcome high-performing half-day students into their classes – the increased test scores, increased recognition of teacher efficiency by the state, a stable invested family in the school community, and a testament that MCCSC welcomes high-performing students into its lower-graded schools – are greater than the potential drawbacks.
In my meeting with Superintedent DeMuth, she cited two main concerns: Continuity in instruction and the desires of teachers.
Superintendent DeMuth claimed that modern curriculum is so interconnected that a half-day student could not adapt without being a burden to the classroom. However, in conversations with teachers, staff and parents, we have consistently been told – at least in the second grade – that Fairview is currently utilizing a distinct separation in daily instruction: language arts in taught in the morning, mathematic instruction happens in the afternoons. The claim that a half-day student would be irretrievably lost seems overblown; a morning half-day student would simply study language arts at Fairview and mathematics at home.
Even if concerns about curricular continuity are justified; there is surely likewise a corollary: a half-day student by nature also requires less individual attention. It’s one less math quiz to grade, one less raised hand with a question about mushrooms, one less kid in line for the computer. If a child demonstrates grade-level proficiency, there should be no deficiencies in the child that demand a burdensome level of teacher attention or individual instruction.
In our meeting, Superintendent DeMuth also stated, “This is a teacher issue, not an administrative issue.” I fully support leaving this decision with teachers. If a teacher finds a partial-day student’s presence a distraction in their class, that child should not be in their class. However, given the sad reality that teachers and schools are judged in part by student test scores, I believe that there are several teachers who would welcome a slam-dunk passing test score that they only have to teach for half a day. The Superintendent, in our meeting, chose not to answer this following question, but I will pose it to this board: If a teacher would want a high-performing half-day student in his or her class, why would the administration block it?
I am asking and advising this board, then, to modify Policy #9270 by adding the following sentences. “Enrollment should not be denied to students who perform at or above grade level across academic areas, and whose guardians will cooperate with teachers and school administrators in the support of the student and the school. The Corporation will respect any individual teachers’ request that partial-day students not be placed in their classroom.”
If this board is unable or unwilling to add this clarifier to the policy, I would at least encourage this board to establish a formal process for pursuing exceptions to policies which include contingent language (e.g., that found in policy 9270: “may deny…”). Such cases - by definition - require a judgment call, and there should be a process that allows parents contact and transparency with the school administration, and which takes into consideration the actual realities of the students and the teachers.
I thank you for your time and deliberation.
* * * *
Current Policy 9270:
The Superintendent may deny the enrollment of a resident student from a non-accredited or home school in less than a full time schedule. Students denied enrollment shall not be eligible for participation in extra-curricular programs of the Corporation.
Proposed Policy 9270:
The Superintendent may deny the enrollment of a resident student from a non-accredited or home school in less than a full time schedule. Enrollment should not be denied to students who perform at or above grade level across academic areas, and whose guardians will cooperate with teachers and school administrators in the support of the student and the school. The Corporation will respect any individual teachers’ request that partial-day students not be placed in their classroom. Students denied enrollment shall not be eligible for participation in extra-curricular programs of the Corporation.