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Cherokee parents protest plan to reduce second-grade sections, ask for data
Summary
Several Cherokee Elementary parents told the board they were not given data or rationale for a plan to move from four second-grade sections to three (24 students per section) and asked the board to intervene and require transparency.
Multiple parents told the board they were surprised and upset by a plan announced at an APT meeting to reduce Cherokee Elementary's second-grade sections from four to three, placing 72 students into three sections of 24.
"This decision was announced at Cherokee APT meeting. It wasn't on the agenda. Parents had no notice ... No rationale was given for this decision. No data was provided to support the decision," parent Nicola Coleto said. She noted the district's stated ceiling is 25 students per class and asked why the district would plan for 24 as a target when summer enrollments could push counts above the ceiling.
Other parents echoed the call for data. Jessica Connolly said Cherokee remains the district's lowest-performing school and warned that larger class sizes could destabilize recent gains. Tim Flynn asked the board for transparency about the behavioral metrics and KPIs the administration used to justify consolidating classes and whether the intervention committee was consulted.
Superintendent Montgomery and staff previously told parents the plan "is what we're planning for" and cited confidence in assessments such as MAP and IAR; parents said behavioral data was not shared and asked the board to demand documentation before finalizing assignments.
What happens next: Parents requested a formal response with the data and rationale behind the proposed consolidation and asked the board to step in before staffing and assignments are finalized for next school year.
