Students and parents press Kutztown Area SD board to delay graduation‑requirement and leveling changes

The Kutztown Area School District board heard an extended block of public comment Wednesday night, with parents and high‑school students urging the district to slow proposed changes to graduation requirements and a plan to combine general and academic ninth‑grade classes.

"The survey that was given to us was vague," said senior Mackenzie Snow, who told the board she reviewed other districts' experiences and worried about lost supports: "Several sources claim that teachers were unable to exhibit the same amount of help and resources prior to the changes… Is it true that you want to leave out part of a class in their learning?" Snow said.

Robin Underwood, a Creston Borough resident, asked the district to provide more outreach and clearer information to families about options such as dual enrollment and career‑technology internships: "I would encourage you to have your administrators have more open forums… more information for parents, please," she said.

Students and parents said the timing and the way the district communicated the proposals — including a survey that some students said closed before they could respond — left stakeholders feeling underinformed. "The survey was closed before myself and others had the chance to fill it out," Snow said.

District leaders and staff responded that the proposals being discussed are two related but distinct items: modest changes to graduation‑requirement language and a ninth‑grade leveling pilot. The superintendent said the graduation proposal preserves pathways for students who already obtain post‑secondary experiences (dual enrollment, internships) and that the ninth‑grade leveling plan would be limited to ninth grade only, not upper grades.

The administration emphasized additional supports would be built into the plan. "We're exploring multi‑tiered systems of support so we're adding layers of support for students," the superintendent said, describing interventions such as "algebra plus" blocks and writing labs to give struggling students extra instructional time.

Board members and students asked for more empirical data before any final vote, including Keystone and PSAT performance and the full text of survey results. One trustee suggested bringing students into a data‑analysis challenge to better evaluate effects and tradeoffs.

The board did not take a final vote on the course‑leveling proposal during the meeting. Trustees said they plan to continue community engagement, review teacher and student feedback and consider additional schedule‑based supports before any change is adopted.