BELLVILLE, Ohio – “I’ve listened to teachers both in and out of our district. I’ve read signed letters from teachers, superintendents, board of education members, and principals from Ohio and other states, who have stood up against PARCC, or ‘opted out,’ as you will. I’ve learned from them that this is not teaching. This is not encouraging. It is not beneficial to our children. It is costly – financially, emotionally, and psychologically,” said parent Jennifer Stallard as she addressed the Clear Fork Valley Local Schools Board of Education during the regular meeting Thursday evening.
Stallard called for action from the school board regarding Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing.
“The people who voted you into office want to know your stance on PARCC and why you aren’t speaking out against it when you know parents and teachers are against it. Don’t tell us there isn’t anything you can do. We don’t want to hear about the money. We want to hear from the board, as we have already heard from the superintendent, what you are doing to help us, to help our teachers, and to help our children to fight back against PARCC and the over-testing in our schools,” she said.
Board president Jim DeSanto responded, noting that the board has considered a resolution on the issue, but wanted to “let things play out” a bit before putting it before the board.
Vice president Jim Klenk added, “They say we have local control of education…but that has slowly dwindled away.”
Klenk said that his own daughter had taken the PARCC test, and that the computer froze during her testing. “There’s a lot of problems,” he added, noting that there are 67 straight days of testing throughout the district, between the different classes and schools.
Klenk said that even if PARCC testing were ended, another test would take its place.
Board member Jason Snyder said that his wife is a teacher, and he is the parent of a student. “I live with it; I know what the teachers are going through,” he said. “I think this is a joke, but it’s something we have to do right now.”
Superintendent Janice Wyckoff said that the American Institutes for Research (AIR) test is also used, but that its implementation was simple by comparison to PARCC.
“This is not ODE (Ohio Department of Education),” she said, noting that PARCC was mandated by legislation.
Board members encouraged parents to contact their legislators.
Parent Jeremy Walker said that he had spoken with Rep. Mark Romanchuk. “He was saying as far as the Common Core stuff, he doesn’t see that going away at all,” he said.
Walker noted that he’d been told by Romanchuk there was hope that PARCC may be ended, but that people needed to address their senators on the issue.
Wyckoff said the board would have a resolution next month.
Awards and Presentations
Retiring Clear Fork School District employee John Beveridge was honored for 30 years of service and presented with a plaque by Butler Mayor Kevin Carr.
A presentation celebrating the 30th year of the Reading Recovery Program was given by Laura Feldner, Cindy Ridenour, Nicole Walker, and Anitra Van Horn.
The Reading Recovery Program is an intensive 12-20 week reading and writing intervention designed for first grade students. It was noted that 75 percent of the participating students read at grade level after completing the series of lessons.
Extended School Days
The board approved the addition of 30 minutes to each school day as needed to be used to make up time due to calamity days, in addition to currently scheduled make-up days. Wyckoff noted that the extension would be in effect from March 17 to April 17, and would add 15 minutes to the beginning and 15 minutes to the end of each school day.
“The people who voted you into office want to know your stance on PARCC and why you aren’t speaking out against it when you know parents and teachers are against it. Don’t tell us there isn’t anything you can do. We don’t want to hear about the money. We want to hear from the board, as we have already heard from the superintendent, what you are doing to help us, to help our teachers, and to help our children to fight back against PARCC and the over-testing in our schools.”
Jennifer Stallard, Clear Fork parent
