A Marblehead resident told the school committee Wednesday she believes district practice on student surveys violates parental rights set by recent court guidance, and committee members spent the meeting's policy segment reviewing how the district handles consent.

Sarah Fox, of 46 Street, told the committee, "This is graded as an assignment. And so, essentially, your child will be penalized in their grades if they do not if the parent does not agree. That is a forced mandate. It is a direct violation of the clear decision from the Supreme Court," referring to recent court decisions about parental rights and school-administered materials.

The nut graf: Committee members then took up the district's student-survey policy, which the administration said follows the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) model and DESE guidance by requiring written consent in some circumstances while also providing parents an opt-out opportunity for the eight topic areas identified by law.

During the policy discussion, members raised an apparent tension between handbook acknowledgments that parents sign each year and the legal standard the policy cites. One committee member said the policy "feels like there's a discrepancy" between an upfront consent approach and an opt-out approach for the eight protected topics.

Assistant Superintendent Julie Ferreira and other staff told the committee they had sought legal advice and that the district intends the handbook signature and the policy to "dovetail": the handbook provides broad notification while the district will provide specific advance notice and an opportunity to opt out when a survey concerns the law's eight sensitive topics. Ferreira described the policy as aligning with the MASC template and DESE materials.

The committee voted to approve the student-submission-to-educational-surveys-and-research policy; the motion passed 3 to 1.

Ending: The administration said it will continue to provide parents advance notice of surveys involving the law's listed topics, make the surveys available for review before administration, and clarify the relationship between the handbook acknowledgement and the policy in communications to families.