Art teacher says revised middle-school schedule limits encore access for nearly half of Moran students; district officials dispute some numbers

Anita Pelletier, an art educator at Moran Middle School, wrote to the Wallingford Instructional Committee that the district’s revised middle-school schedule is “negatively impacting nearly half” of middle-school students’ access to encore classes such as art and music.

Pelletier’s letter, read into the record by committee member Jen Passaretti, said enrollment figures show 120 students in chorus and strings and 130 in band at Moran — a total of 250 music students in a school of 545, which she wrote represents about 46 percent of the student body. She said those figures understate the broader number affected and urged the board and town council to correct what she called “inaccurate information” presented at a February board meeting.

The district’s central office administrator who responded to Pelletier’s letter said the timeline and some figures in the email were incorrect. The administrator said the district is in year two of the current schedule (a seven-period A/B model), not three, and described a review the curriculum office conducted after the February meeting. That review examined each student’s course history to count opportunities in encore areas and to identify scheduling constraints such as year‑long music classes and required resource time tied to IEPs.

District staff explained that non‑music students have 16 encore slots on the current schedule but many of those slots are used for physical education, world language or health, leaving roughly seven open-choice encore opportunities for a typical non‑music student. Staff also noted the district offers six distinct middle‑school art courses (two in each grade). They reported that in the current eighth‑grade cohort only four students out of 389 had never taken an art course; seventh grade showed 36 of 366, and sixth grade 127 students who had not yet had an art class. Staff said those sixth‑grade numbers reflect a mix of reasons — enrollment in year‑long music, resource time for special education, teacher prep scheduling and class‑balance adjustments made when encore sections have uneven enrollment.

Committee members pressed for more data and for ways to give families clearer information. Several members praised the intent of the schedule change — to provide daily core instruction in math, humanities and science — while also acknowledging that schedules inevitably trade off some elective access and that principals are continuing to adjust assignments and hand‑schedule students where needed. Board members proposed follow‑up steps including further review of enrollment data, targeted principal-level problem‑solving for schools with higher numbers of students missing encores, and carefully designed family or student feedback to avoid creating an expectation of immediate schedule changes.

No formal motion or vote was recorded on Pelletier’s letter or on immediate schedule changes; the discussion concluded with district staff saying they will continue to meet with building principals and examine scheduling options for equity of encore access.

Anita Pelletier, the letter’s author, identified herself in the record as an art educator at Moran Middle School; the letter was submitted by email and read into the minutes by committee member Jen Passaretti.