NORTHAMPTON — There is no task force charged with studying academic rigor at Northampton’s middle and high schools, nor has there been official talk of forming one.
But the idea of such an effort has sparked a debate about the role of the School Committee, spurring several teachers and school officials to speak out at Thursday’s meeting in defense of the work they do each day.
The misunderstanding stemmed, in part, from a Facebook post on the “Challenge All Students” page created two years ago in the aftermath of cutting honors courses at Northampton High School. A post published Feb. 26 suggested that the School Committee was seeking input on academic rigor.
“URGENT! If you believe the NPS should provide more challenge and should better serving the needs of all students, NOW is the time to make your voice heard,” the post stated. “Vice Chair Ed Zuchowski would like to hear concerns. Please cc Chair Mayor Narkewicz, and your ward rep. Their emails can be found at http://www.northampton-k12.us/school-committee. Yes, your 10 minutes will make a difference. Thank you.”
School administrators and teachers were taken aback by the idea that the School Committee would solicit such feedback without involving them in the process.
Northampton Association of School Employees President Julie Spencer-Robinson said she emailed middle and high school teachers on March 3 to let them know that the mayor and Zuchowski had been asked to consider creating a task force that would look at broadening course options and evaluating the level of academic challenges in the schools, in case teachers wanted to weigh in on the issue.
At Thursday’s meeting, several teachers and school officials passionately dismissed the need for such a task force and said the suggestion of one undermined their judgment.
“The recent request for feedback for a school committee task force questioning the course offerings at NHS is divisive in nature, demoralizing to teachers and above all missing the point of our school culture,” Northampton High School Principal Bryan Lombardi said at public comment.
But, Zuchowski clarified later in the meeting by saying: “The School Committee at this time is not seeking community input on challenge in the Northampton schools, not from the community, not from teachers.”
He said it was all a misunderstanding. Zuchowski explained Friday that he believes the Facebook post followed a conversation he had with a School Committee member who said he had been overwhelmed at the YMCA and grocery store by constituents with concerns about academic rigor in the middle and high schools.
Zuchowski said he had not heard such concerns and told the School Committee member, whom he declined to name, to pass along his contact information but did not mean to suggest the issue was a broader concern the committee was considering tackling.
At a School Committee meeting in January, during a presentation on high school course changes by Lombardi, Ward 6 School Committee member Tom Baird raised the question of whether students were being adequately challenged and suggested the possibility of a separate task force to look into the issue. The mayor at the time responded by saying he would take the point under advisement.
Narkewicz said Friday that he and Baird had later corresponded about the question and he had explained that ad-hoc committees are typically used for tasks like studying the high school start time or hiring a new superintendent, not perennial problems like academic challenge.
Baird did not respond to a request for comment.
Narkewicz said he received a separate inquiry from at-large School Committee member Nat Reade who had a question about when and how the committee could discuss the issue, to which the mayor said he reiterated some of the things he said to Baird. He pointed to the committee’s retreat held Friday as a place to discuss this and other questions about process.
Reade declined to comment, citing School Committee policy designating the vice chair as the spokesman.
At the heart of the issue seems to be a misunderstanding about the School Committee’s role. The committee is tasked with overseeing broad matters of policy, not dictating individual lesson plans, Narkewicz said. Union president Spencer-Robinson said everyone has the same goal, the question is how to hav a constructive conversation.
“I think challenge is an ideal worth examining. I’m not sure a task force set up by the School Committee would be the right vehicle for looking at that issue,” Spencer-Robinson said. “It feels like a top-down approach, and yet at the same time I do recognize that people elected to the School Committee have an obligation to their constituents.”
Superintendent John Provost said it’s a matter of “professional identity” and was saddened to think that his teachers’ commitment to their job was being questioned, particularly because data shows the district has some of the best schools in the state. “I think if parents have concerns about the learning of their children in math or any other subject they should meet with their child’s teacher,” he said.
Stephanie McFeeters can be reached at smcfeeters@gazettenet.com.