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Brentwood parents press board to review competency-based report cards; committee to convene
Summary
A parent described how the district's competency-based elementary report cards affected her daughter's confidence and learning path. Board and SAU leaders agreed to gather stakeholder input and to form a report-card committee after the first trimester.
A Brentwood parent told the school board on Wednesday that the district's competency-based elementary report cards left her child unsure of her abilities and later under-motivated in middle school, prompting the board and SAU officials to agree to broaden stakeholder review.
Elizabeth Melendi Tillinghast, a Brentwood parent and pediatrician, said her daughter — part of the first Swayze class to use competency-based reporting — “never received an EL in math in elementary school” yet, after summer testing, was placed into accelerated sixth-grade math and finished the year with consecutive trimester grades of 93. “For the final 2 trimesters, she earned a 93 in each of those trimesters,” Tillinghast said, adding that numerical grades gave her family actionable feedback about study habits and progress.
Tillinghast said the three-level elementary scale (developing, proficient, extended learning) lacked the clarity she needed to track incremental improvement and to motivate her child. “To be clear, I'm not opposed to competency based grading in principle. I understand its goals, and I respect the hard work that our teachers put into implementing it,” she told the board, but asked the district to consider a hybrid approach that provides both competency statements and numerical grades.
SAU staff responded that review and stakeholder engagement are already planned. Renee Bennett, the superintendent designee assigned to Brentwood, said the SAU uses a three-point elementary scale and a four-point scale at the cooperative level: “we have a 3 point for the elementary schools and 4 point for our coop.” Bennett told the board she would share parent feedback with senior leadership and said the superintendent, Dr. Andrisky, “is gonna have a report card committee after the first trimester” to solicit wider input.
Board members and several parents urged the creation of a diverse stakeholder group including teachers and parents. One board member noted prior focus groups at Swayze had produced strong negative feedback and asked for a more open process now that leadership has changed. The board agreed to keep report-card review and related stakeholder outreach on its agenda for the coming year and to ask SAU administration for a timeline and next steps.
Discussion versus decision: the meeting record shows discussion and direction (the SAU will convene a committee and the board will continue to monitor), but no formal policy change or vote on report cards was taken Wednesday.
What comes next: SAU staff said the report-card committee will form after the first trimester; the board asked for an update at a future meeting and for community members who want to join the conversation to contact the superintendent's office.
Clarifying details: the elementary report cards use three levels (developing/proficient/extended learning); the cooperative uses a four-point scale; Tillinghast cited a summer placement test and then trimester percentages (81% first trimester, then two 93s in accelerated sixth-grade math) as part of her example.
