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Parents and teachers urge board to pause proposal to move 5th graders to a junior-high model
Summary
Multiple parents, a student and the Coquille Education Association president told the board they oppose a proposed shift at Coquille Valley Elementary from self-contained 5th-grade classrooms to a rotating, single-subject model and said stakeholders have not been adequately involved.
Several parents, a student and Coquille Education Association president Tyler Lineman pressed the Coquille School District board Tuesday to delay or abandon a proposal to change how 5th grade is taught at Coquille Valley Elementary.
"Please leave 5th grade as it is," parent Heather Balmer told trustees during public comment, saying parents learned the details only after asking and that the change would "take away our childhood" for 10- and 11-year-olds. Student Sawyer Balmer, who identified herself as a 5th grader at CVE, said students were not consulted and urged the board not to make the change.
Tyler Lineman, an 8th-grade teacher and the local teachers’ association president, said teachers and union leadership object to the district moving 5th graders to a junior-high model without robust stakeholder input. "We do not support the district's proposal to move toward a single subject junior high model at Coquille Valley Elementary," Lineman said, citing concerns about academic stress and transitions for younger students.
Other parents raised disability‑support concerns for students with IEPs and described the practical challenges of multiple transitions, lockers and curriculum rework. Casey McGillivray urged the district to hold public meetings outside work hours and to survey students and families before decisions are finalized.
The superintendent responded that no firm plan has been approved and that staff are still working through options; he said a fuller presentation is planned for the May board meeting and that additional information will be shared with parents afterward. The board did not vote on the instructional model at this meeting.
