Students tell Quincy School Committee sixth‑grade students should remain in elementary buildings

Two Quincy High School students and a parent told the Quincy School Committee at its June 11 meeting that sixth‑grade students should not be placed in middle‑school buildings at Clifford Marshall and Lincoln Hancock.

“Middle school really is an entirely different setting from elementary schools,” Madison Lamerson said during open forum. “There’s vapes, marijuana, bullying, and there’s no way to keep graders from that.” Lamerson identified herself as a student at Quincy High School and said she had changed schools three times because of past district moves.

Why it matters: The statements addressed how building assignments affect students’ safety, sense of belonging and access to elementary‑school resources such as playgrounds and recess. Students said placing sixth graders into middle schools forced them to mature faster than their peers in elementary‑school settings.

What speakers said: Aberi Chanda, also introduced as a Quincy High student, said students who remain in elementary buildings for sixth grade “get to feel all these important experiences” such as recess and helping younger students. Chanda added that students forced to move into middle schools “don’t feel that confidence, and you feel really scared and nervous.”

A parent, Laura Moye, introduced the speakers and said she had raised the issue previously. The students described classmates who had been bullied after entering middle school and one who changed districts because of bullying.

No formal action was taken during the meeting on this subject; the comments were delivered during the public open forum portion of the agenda and were received by the committee as public testimony.