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REA member tells board middle-school electives proposal was rushed and unrepresentative
Summary
A representative identifying himself as Mike, speaking for the Rockford Education Association, told the board that a June 4 instructional-council proposal would remove many middle-school electives and that the proposal bypassed contractual processes and relied on a small, principal-selected student survey.
"Mike," who identified concerns on behalf of the Rockford Education Association, told the board during public comment that a proposal discussed at the Instructional Council would remove a long list of middle-school electives.
He said the affected courses include beginning computer applications, environmental science, introduction to theater, multi-language lab, Spanish foundations and Spanish 1, French 1, a range of visual-arts classes, choir at multiple levels, medical science and PLTW medical detectives, STEM, high-school readiness, and yearbook publication.
Why it matters: those classes provide exploratory and enrichment opportunities for middle-school students; the commenter said moving yearlong offerings to after-school clubs would reduce access for students who need credit-bearing or scheduled coursework.
In his remarks, Mike said the REA learned of the proposal in a way it considered improper for a contractually required committee: "This proposal was presented as if already decided upon before it was shared with or voted on at the June 4 instructional council meeting, which I remind you is a contractually bound committee." He also said that "Only...little less, middle school students were surveyed and they were chosen by their building principals for the survey," and that some principals failed to complete their survey portions.
Mike said the REA members who were part of the design task force were not present at the June 4 presentation and that REA representatives were not invited to present to the full instructional council. "We were informed that none of the REA members involved with this were invited to present at the whole instructional council committee on June 4," he said.
He asked the board to withhold action until more data and full contractual process steps had occurred: "Nothing should be presented to the REA members until it has gone through the instructional council committee and have a proper vote."
The board took no action during public comment. The board president said public comments would be forwarded to staff for follow-up "in a timely manner," and staff typically contacts commenters when appropriate.
