Reed Parents Express Concern Over Scheduling, Other Issues

By Eliza Hallabeck

In an effort to share information on the 2011-12 school budget, Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson and Board of Education Chair William Hart have been attending Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meetings.

After presenting an overview of the 2011-12 school budget, Mr Hart and Dr Robinson also found themselves addressing questions at the Reed PTA session on Wednesday, March 9, regarding the school’s schedule.

Following the meeting, Mr Hart said having passionate and concerned parents is a good thing for Newtown’s students, but the schedule at Reed is something the school’s administration and the school district’s administration will need to take care of, not the school board.

“I think it is important that the board is available to listen,” said Mr Hart, adding that sometimes the board needs to step back to allow school officials to do their jobs.

“The board is very concerned that we have the best education at Reed,” Mr Hart continued, “but it is really up to the building administrators and the superintendent to make sure that happens.”

The schedule at Reed has been a concern of some parents at the school since September, when open house events first brought changes to the schedule at Reed to the attention of a number of parents. During a Board of Education meeting on January 31, Reed Principal Sharon Epple told the school board, when asked, she would like a physical education position and connected Project Adventure program to be added back to the budget for the coming year. The position was lost at the school last year, after the Project Adventure instructor left for another school district. The position was never filled.

At a Parent Coffee event at Reed on Monday, March 14, Dr Epple said she is still hoping to gain the physical education position for next school year, to help alleviate the burden of a tight schedule. Dr Epple and Assistant Principal Anthony Salvatore were available to discuss issues over coffee with parents at the meeting.  The main topic for the evening concerned the school’s schedule.

“It’s never a done deal in education,” said Dr Epple. “It’s a large organization with many beings.”

A scheduling committee at the school has been working on a schedule for next school year, according to Dr Epple, and that plan will be presented to the Board of Education, the superintendent, the school’s PTA, and finally the school community in the coming month. The schedule, she also said, is contingent on whether the physical education position can be added to the school’s faculty roster.

Dr Epple said the school will have no way of knowing whether a physical education teacher can be added for next school year until further along in this school year, when the number of teachers retiring or leaving the school will be known.

Parent Coffee event participant Laura Roche said she did not understand how the school administration could wait on a hope that a position could be added back to the school.

“Parents have been complaining about the changes and the schedule since October,” she said. “This should be a high priority.”

An option in next year’s schedule at Reed, according to Dr Epple, would include removing the school’s Accelerated Reader program from being a portion of the school’s Learning Lab program, and moving Accelerated Reader into its own slot in the schedule.

Reed parent and teacher Carla Tischio explained Accelerated Reader, which quizzes students through a computer program on their individual reading books, allows dialogue to begin between teachers and students on the student’s reading level and reading ability. Learning Lab is used as a time for students who need extra help to receive that extra attention. Learning Lab, Ms Tischio said, was originally designed as a time for students to work on topics beyond the curriculum, but that no longer happens with Accelerated Reader also occurring during the period.

Reed parent Mimi Beardsley said Accelerated Reader helps students in school systems that are in trouble, but not necessarily other students.

“I really think we need to look at the big picture,” said Ms Beardsley, “and look at best practices.”

During the meeting, parents expressed varying concerns and opinions on both Accelerated Reader and Learning Lab. Some of those concerns centered around differences in instruction students at the school have reported to their parents. Some said students complete an abundance of independent reading, while others said their children struggle to meet the personal goals created in the Accelerated Reader program. Others said students who attend extracurricular programs during the Learning Lab period are forced to make up work for that period when at home.

Dr Epple said the school’s scheduling committee will take a look at the concerns when deliberating on the schedule for next school year.

“This is part of the process,” said Dr Epple, “and we are certainly ready and willing to take a look at it.”

On Wednesday, Mr Hart said concerns over differences in instruction at the school have been known since the start of Reed, six years ago. Multiple issues combined to create the issue, he said, including having teachers from all four elementary schools moved to work at Reed when it opened. Dr Epple, who began as Reed principal last school year, is working to improve the consistency at the school, Mr Hart said.

Parents at the Parent Coffee on Monday shared concerns with the school principal and assistant principal that the schedule may go back to what it was like at the start of the school year.

“I have confidence that the team there will continue to be better,” said Mr Hart.

So far Dr Robinson, often accompanied by Mr Hart, has spoken at high school, Head O’ Meadow, and Reed Intermediate School PTA meetings.

Mr Hart said on Wednesday, March 16, he expects to attend a meeting at Newtown Middle School in early April, and also plans to attend the Sandy Hook School PTA meeting scheduled for March 29 at 10 am. The March 29 meeting, he said, will be open to the public.