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Board asks for workshop after new breakdown shows testing totals in minutes
Summary
A board member pulled an item showing a minute-by-minute breakdown of student testing and asked staff to schedule a workshop to explore whether the district can reduce testing time, citing totals that board members described as high despite some state-mandated tests.
A board member at the Sept. 23 Brevard County School Board meeting asked the district to convene a workshop to review and potentially reduce the total number of minutes students spend on tests after a new agenda attachment broke testing down by minutes.
The pulled item included a minute-by-minute schedule for required and district-administered assessments. The board member who raised the item said the new format — which lists total minutes for multiple grade bands and tests — made the time burden “very much in our face” and requested an immediate workshop to examine reductions. The member acknowledged that state-mandated tests cannot be removed but asked staff to identify nonrequired testing that might be reduced or consolidated.
Other board members supported the idea. Staff and a different board member noted the district has already reduced some testing in prior years and said that district staff would explain why particular assessments occur and how the minute totals were calculated. One board member suggested inviting testing administrator Miss Harris to the workshop to provide background and answer detailed questions.
The board voted to approve the consent item with the specific pulled item to be discussed, and later approved a motion to table related contract items; the testing-document discussion itself concluded with agreement to schedule the workshop and to gather more detail on which tests are state-required versus district-administered.
Why it matters: Testing time is the subject of frequent concern among parents and teachers; a minute-by-minute public breakdown is a concrete prompt for the district to revisit schedule choices and to clarify which assessments are mandatory.
Next steps: Board members asked staff to convene a workshop, invite testing and school staff to explain the tests and minutes included, and to return recommendations for reducing non-mandated testing.
