Although Common Core and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing were not on the evening’s agenda, parents voiced their concerns to the Clear Fork Valley Local Schools Board of Education at the regular meeting Feb. 12 in Bellville.
Clear Fork parent Michael Drockton read a prepared statement in which he expressed his concern regarding the PARCC testing, as well as his support for the school district.
“House Bill 7 allows me to opt my children out of PARCC testing. But out of respect to Mr. Caputo and all the other teachers at Butler Elementary, who are just as frustrated as parents are with the test preparation taking up valuable class time, my children will be parked in front of a computer for the 12 ½ hours it takes to complete the test,” said a visibly emotional Drockton.
Ohio House Bill 7 passed the House unanimously on Feb. 11 and has now moved on to the Senate. The bill prohibits PARCC scores for the current school year from being utilized for promotion or retention of a student. The bill also prohibits sharing individual scores with outside sources.
“Butler is a blue ribbon school, and it became that way without the Common Core and PARCC. Why change it? Why, as a board, would you want to change it? And lastly, what is the board doing to get Common Core removed from our schools?” Drockton continued.
Superintendent Janice Wyckoff explained that it is the Ohio Department of Education that mandates Common Core and PARCC, and that teachers who refuse to administer the test could have their licenses revoked. The school board, she said, is stuck in the middle.
“This whole thing became a mess in 1991 when they instituted testing for children, and it has grown into a monster ever since then,” said Wyckoff.
“These PARCC test have pushed kids over the edge … now I’ve got great parents taking their kids to psychologists because of the PARCC tests. This is ridiculous. If you want to opt out, opt out,” she said.
“The problem is,” she continued, “if you send your kid to school when we’re doing PARCC testing, by law, to keep our licenses, we have to stick your kid in front of the computer. We have to.”
Although Wyckoff noted she could not tell parents to keep their children home on testing day, she advised, “Don’t make your kid a weapon in this war. Don’t put your kid in that middle position. Don’t make your kid feel like, ‘My teacher’s going to hate me because I didn’t take the test.’ Don’t make your kid be singled out by everyone else in the room because they are sitting there and not participating. It’s not fair to them.”
To Drockton, Wyckoff said she appreciated his respect for the district and the teachers, but he must do what he feels is in the best interest of his child.
Clear Fork parents Amy Frazier, Jeremy Walker, and Naomi Wade also addressed the board regarding PARCC, and Wyckoff reiterated her position and explained that students would not be given an alternate activity to testing should they be in attendance.
Among the evening’s agenda items was the public hearing on the 2015-2016 recommended school calendar.
Wyckoff noted that students would be given an uninterrupted spring break to allow for family vacations, with calamity days made up at the end of the school year.
Additionally, on the proposed calendar, school will begin three days earlier in 2015 to allow for finals to be administered prior to winter break.
A special board meeting was held earlier in the evening, in which the board immediately entered executive session for the purpose of a post audit conference with the state auditor’s staff.
For more information of items discussed during the regular board meeting, minutes may be found at the website.
“Butler is a blue ribbon school, and it became that way without the Common Core and PARCC. Why change it? Why, as a board, would you want to change it? And lastly, what is the board doing to get Common Core removed from our schools?” asked Michael Drockton.
