Another key educational decision being debated by Morgan Hill Unified School District staff and school board trustees—this time having to do with grade level configuration of school sites—turned tumultuous at the April 21 meeting.
The third discussion on the topic, centered around the district’s proposal to move sixth grade students from the elementary schools into the middle schools, heated up right away when Trustee David Gerard strongly suggested a shift in thinking to more kindergarten through eighth grade school sites.
“I have real concerns about the middle school model period,” said Gerard, who cited research that supports a K-8 rather than 6-8 middle school format. “The middle school model is something that we need to question. I think we need to be flexible and think outside the box.”
Currently, the Jackson Academy of Math & Music is MHUSD’s only K-8 site—switching over several years ago when it became a magnet school. The Charter School of Morgan Hill, which serves Morgan Hill students and is under MHUSD oversight, follows that same format. Additionally, parents of students at San Martin Gwinn Environmental Science Academy, especially those in the dual immersion program, are pushing for change to a K-8 school there.
“We need to do what’s best for the kids. I doubt it’s 6, 7, 8 (middle schools),” Gerard continued. “The people who are involved clearly don’t want it.”
However, a district-facilitated Grade Level Reconfiguration Committee, which has met monthly since December, recommended the transition to a K-5 elementary, 6-8 middle school and 9-12 high school configuration.
Gerard, who said he spoke with two of those committee members, contended that district staff helped guide them to a rushed decision, calling it “a pre-baked deal.”
“I don’t believe that to be the case (and) I will categorically deny that we rushed into anything,” said parent Cindy Van Rhijn, a committee member from Britton Middle School who attended the April 21 meeting. “There was more thought and consideration put into this process than what you alluded to.”
Wendy Sullivan, a parent of a student at Martin Murphy who was also present April 21, agreed with her fellow committee member on how the meetings were conducted and the pace at which a decision was made.
Assistant Superintendent Norma Martinez-Palmer facilitated those committee meetings and took offense to Gerard’s comments.
“I do not lead the group to go one way or the other. I listen, we record, and we did have many interesting conversations,” Martinez-Palmer said. “And I do want to go on record that did not happen the way you described. I don’t want the public to believe that this was a decision that was made already.”
The committee was made up of five principals, three counselors, 10 teachers, seven parents and two district office representatives. Gemma Ables, the new president of the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers come July 1, said the committee came away with the following recommendations: 1) All sixth graders should move to the middle schools; 2) the district should have informational meetings about the move and gather public input before the board makes a plan for implementation; and 3) the district should determine parents’ interest in moving some sixth graders to Murphy in 2015-2016.
“Obviously one of the original proposals was to move some sixth graders to Martin Murphy next year. If this was to be implemented, a decision had to be made in a short amount of time,” Ables explained. “However, I do not think the committee made a hasty decision since there were several meetings prior to the vote.”
Prior to any board vote on grade level configuration, the district—which initially proposed a sixth-grade pilot program at Martin Murphy back in March—has been trying to gauge parent interest.
The district held eight “Moving to the Middles” community meetings at various school sites, which were lightly attended with as many as 35 parents to as few as five depending on location, according to district staff. In total, 143 parents attended the meetings.
Trustee Gino Borgioli added fuel to the fire when he held up a folder filled with parent emails who were opposed to a switch to a three-grade-level middle school configuration and the entire process in determining what configuration is best.
“Especially at Nordstrom and Paradise Valley, it was in the 90 percentile (of attendees who) were very verbal against the 6-8 (configuration),” said Borgioli, who then turned to the emails. “They don’t feel good about what has transpired….The community has felt blindsided.”
Borgioli brought up the March 10 meeting where there was discussion of the sixth-grade pilot program at Martin Murphy for next school year. Superintendent Steve Betando responded that the initial discussion, which included talk of the pilot program, was an information item and no action was asked of the board. The district was only trying to get some direction from the board, Betando said.
Trustee Ron Woolf, not liking the interaction between board members and between board members and district staff during the April 21 discussion, then chimed in.
“I see a lot of finger pointing here and I’m sorry, I don’t tolerate that,” said Woolf, trying to gain some grasp on the opinions of his fellow board members. “Are we moving to a K-8 configuration? That’s what I’m hearing.”
Hoping to produce more feedback from the community, the district posted an online survey regarding grade level configuration on its website. However, only 69 surveys were filled out, despite having about 4,700 elementary school students, according to district staff.
From those online answers, Martinez-Palmer detailed that parents were concerned about the maturity level of sixth graders not being ready to mix with older students and the safety of those sixth graders when interacting with seventh and eighth graders. The survey is no longer active.
Concerned about where the discussion was headed, Trustee Donna Foster-Ruebusch requested they move on to the next agenda item. Gerard wanted to continue the conversation. Board President Bob Benevento, however, granted Foster-Ruebusch’s request, putting an end to the hotly-debated topic for the time being.
The next regularly scheduled school board meeting on May 12 will take place at Martin Murphy Middle School in San Jose. Closed session begins at 4:30 p.m. with public session starting around 6 p.m.
