Teachers and residents urge careful review of plan to change middle-school math leveling

Community members and district teachers urged the Holliston School Committee on Jan. 23 to slow consideration of changes to math leveling at the middle school and to involve a fuller cross-section of teachers and high-school staff before moving ahead.

What was raised: Anne Kinode, who identified herself as a math teacher and parent, told the committee she had served on the 2011–2015 math curriculum review and described the care with which the district previously approached leveling. “When we did the last curriculum review, we were very thoughtful as to what we did,” she said, and asked the committee to give more time for broader input before acting on a math study-group recommendation that would remove or alter existing levels.

Kinode and other speakers recounted that the curriculum review committee in recent years included multiple grade-level teachers, curriculum specialists and department leaders and that, in a late-2023 vote, a majority recommended continuing some level placement in grade 7 and grade 8 to preserve acceleration pathways.

Teachers’ concerns and placement criteria

Teachers at the meeting said they are already implementing new math resources and professional development and cautioned that adding more required standards to sixth or seventh grade would increase instructional demand. One principal noted teachers have tried in recent years to move some grade‑8 standards earlier but that the work requires time and coordination across elementary and middle grades.

Administrators and teachers said there are four algebra standards currently not taught at grade 8 under the district’s model; making Algebra 1 broadly available in grade 8 would require multi‑year pacing adjustments and staff training. The district presented a path that would keep two levels in grade 8 for the coming year while working through a multi-year strategy for standards placement and high-school alignment.

Public comment and union concerns

A separate public commenter who identified himself as Sean Bilodeau, a high‑school music teacher, used the public‑comment period to describe a grievance he said happened in a scheduling committee: he said he was removed from a high‑school scheduling committee after voting to advance a recommendation and accused union leadership of retaliating and not centering student needs. He appealed for collaborative work on scheduling going forward. Those comments were made in the public‑comment portion of the Jan. 23 meeting and were not part of a formal grievance process reported by the district in the meeting minutes.

What happens next

The committee and administration signaled they will continue multi‑party discussions, including getting standards, pacing and high‑school placement criteria into a concise matrix so teachers and parents can see how standards would move between grades. Administrators said any major change will be treated as a phased, multi‑year implementation rather than an immediate schedule overhaul.

Speakers referenced in this article are drawn from the Jan. 23 public‑comment period and the subsequent presentations and Q&A. Direct quotes are taken from on‑record remarks given at the meeting.