MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) approved the proposed Manchester School District High School course catalog on Monday night, but not after a long discussion about the impact of de-leveling and block scheduling on students.
The topic of de-leveling has been a focus of the BOSC and outgoing Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. John Goldhardt, with the hope of eliminating the current four-level system of classes geared at students of varying abilities and replacing it with one class for advanced placement students and one class for everyone else.
During the meeting’s public comment section, opponents of de-leveling claim that it takes choice away from students and forces teachers to create “one-size-fits-all” curricula that leave some students frustrated with lessons that go either too fast or too slow for their needs. Supporters of de-leveling cite that many students of color are trapped inside lower level classes with the expectation that they are not capable of advancing to higher levels when they might be, as well as a review in 2014 where the district was found to be in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in its lack of access to honors classes for black and Latino students.
In regard to block scheduling, opponents stated that the practice, which places longer classes that meet less frequently, wastes as much as two weeks of instruction time each year. BOSC Student Member Rachel Barry stated that her fellow students often need to spend the beginning of most classes catching up on what was taught in previous classes, which causes anxiety to the point where some students contemplate skipping extra-curricular activities to catch up.
Ward 11 BOSC Member Dr. Nicole Leapley was one of the members of the board to vote in opposition to the catalog, voicing frustration with the lack of progress on de-leveling. Leapley told administrators that almost no progress had been made in her eyes since discussion about de-leveling before the board almost exactly a year earlier, demanding timelines and benchmarks for the implementation of de-leveling to be completed.
Leapley’s frustration rose to the point where Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig felt that her comments were becoming disrespectful, leading Craig to ask Leapley to ask her questions in a more constructive manner.
Manchester School District Assistant Superintendent Amy Allen noted that de-leveling has been accomplished at the middle school level, but without smaller class sizes and additional instruction for teachers regarding de-leveling, the rollout would not be successful at the high school level.
Manchester School District Chief Equity Officer Tina Philibotte also told Leapley that a key difference between Monday and last year was that she had not been hired yet last year, and had been spending the past six months building trust and educating staff and students on the process, which she says is still set to happen once the city’s public high schools are ready.
Philibotte also defended block scheduling, citing studies that support the practice.
The board voted unanimously for the catalog except for Leapley and Ward 9 BOSC Member Ben Dion, who felt that he could not vote for a catalog that did not include classes he felt were needed.
