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Parents and experts urge Northshore to keep self-contained HiCap classes, demand data before integration
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Summary
At a lengthy public-comment period on April 27, parents, teachers and researchers told the Northshore board the proposed integrated middle-school model risks diluting accelerated instruction for highly capable students and urged the district to provide rigorous longitudinal data and stronger training before implementation.
A series of parents, educators and researchers asked the Northshore School District board on April 27 to preserve self-contained highly capable (HiCap/EAP) classes for middle-school science and social studies unless the district can demonstrate the integrated model delivers equal or better outcomes.
Dr. Austina DeBante, a founder of the High Cap Parents Council and president of the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education, told the board the proposed integrated model "is tantamount to removing highly capable services in these subjects," and warned that the change runs counter to what families and many educators want.
Speakers cited research concerns and implementation risks. "Differentiation rarely happens with any degree of fidelity," said Jeremy Wu, who questioned whether current training and curriculum supports will enable teachers to deliver accelerated and enhanced instruction in an integrated classroom. Liana Stein, a scientist who reviewed district responses to parent questions, said district-provided summaries did not fully address requests for longitudinal growth data and cautioned against over-reliance on short-term percentage metrics.
Multiple parents argued that Northshore's universal screening has identified larger numbers of HiCap students than some districts because it finds students from diverse backgrounds, and they warned that eliminating dedicated HiCap classes would disproportionately harm students who cannot access enrichment outside school. "If the goal is equity, address the structural barriers that limit opportunity, not remove specialized instruction," said Monisha Sharma.
Several presenters referenced Washington state law that requires accelerated learning and enhanced instruction for identified highly capable students and asked the board to show how the integrated model would meet that legal standard at scale. Others asked the district to pilot changes with rigorous evaluation, request implementation timelines and expand teacher training and curriculum development before changing the middle-school delivery model.
Board members did not vote on HiCap policy changes at the meeting. The district will retain the public testimony in the record; speakers asked for further opportunities for parent partnership and data-driven review before any policy change.
