School committee adopts QRSD competency determination; keeps MCAS route in place

At a regular meeting, the Quabbin Regional School District School Committee voted to accept the district’s proposed competency determination framework that includes two options for students to earn a diploma: a course-based pathway aligned with MassCore standards and the existing MCAS pathway (including cohort appeals and DESE measures).

Colleen, a district administrator who presented the proposal, said the recommended approach was designed to align with statewide guidance she expected to evolve. “I would anticipate that maybe a year from now, maybe sooner, that the state is going to come out with another version of what competency determination is,” she said, framing the committee’s vote as an interim, district-level approach while statewide policy is in flux.

Under the adopted approach (described at the meeting as Option 2), students who complete the equivalent of tenth-grade English and math and one science course (biology, physics, chemistry or engineering) by graduation would meet the district’s competency determination. The committee kept Option 1 — the traditional MCAS pathway — as an available route for students with nontraditional course trajectories and for students who benefit from the DESE cohort-appeal process.

Purnima, a district staff member who supported retaining MCAS as an option, noted that appeals to DESE have supported students who follow different instructional trajectories: “Keeping that intact … would be really important to keep that inclusive, profile for kids going,” she said.

District staff said elementary testing practices will not change: MCAS administrations and scheduled dates at the elementary level will continue as before. When a principal raised whether parents could refuse MCAS testing, staff answered that “there is no opt out of MCAS” under current state rules; if a child is absent, schools do not compel attendance but there is no formal parent opt‑out process.

A member moved to adopt the competency-determination language presented; the motion was seconded and the committee approved it. The meeting transcript records the motion language as: “I move that we accept the QRSD competency determination. Those all options 1 and 2.” The transcript does not record a roll-call tally or the names of the mover and seconder. Staff explained the district will insert the competency-determination language into the middle/high school handbook and continue to monitor state guidance and the governor’s commission on competency determination.

The committee directed staff to preserve both options for the near term to cover the district’s current graduating classes and to rely on state direction for any future uniform changes.