Parents whose children are refusing the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers or PARCC test filled the Hattie Britt Administration Building for Tuesday night’s board of education to get the answer to one question: what would happen to their children when their peers are testing?
While the district gave parents an answer, some in the audience were not pleased with what they heard.
Superintendent Antoinette Rath informed parents at last night’s board of education meeting that students who refuse to take the PARCC assessment will be permitted to do another activity in the classroom.
Students who refuse the test will remain in the classroom with their test-taking peers. The alternative activity will be decided upon at each individual school.
The parents in attendance at the meeting gave Rath’s answer mixed reviews. Some were happy the district took notice and made a change a week prior to the start of the test.
However, many still wanted the refusing children moved to an alternate setting.
“You’ve gone halfway,” Mike Kaminski said. “The people here are asking you to go the rest of the way.”
Some parents argued having refusing students in the same room as test-takers will serve as a distraction to other students. Andrea Fuss read a statement requesting her two children be placed in a separate classroom. She felt the schools were not properly communicating details regarding what their children would be doing.
“Students who are testing deserve the right to a distraction-free environment,” she said. “Additionally, non-testing students deserve the simple right not to be made a subjective target by their peers.”
“These students taking the test need to concentrate,” Lisa Gonzalez said.
Wendy Harris acknowledged it’s too late for the district to add an alternate setting for March, but hopes the district considers making a change for the second round of PARCC testing.
“Maybe it’s not too late for May,” she said.
Rath said refusing students will remain in the same room as test-taking students since PARCC is what is on the schedule for the class that day. She said the students will remain with their classmates as they would on a regular instruction day.
In addition to reacting to the district’s PARCC procedure, multiple parents spoke during public comment to personally give refusal letters to the board of education and speak out against the test.
Amanda Morris, a fifth-grade student at Hartford School, came to the meeting wearing a green anti-PARCC t-shirt. Amanda refused the NJASK test last year and is doing so with PARCC this year. She believed it was important for the board to hear the argument against PARCC from an actual student.
“You cannot standardize learning, so you can’t standardize tests,” Amanda said.
Parent Kate Graham told the board there are parents who weren’t at the meeting who would also have their children refuse the test. She believes more letters will be coming in leading up to the test.
“You’re going to get a lot of opt-outs,” Graham said. “They’re going to be coming in in the days ahead.”
Many of the parents in attendance said they would continue speaking out against PARCC as the test is administered in March. Brett Morris, Amanda’s father, hopes the district also moves forward with accommodating non-test taking students.
“We are just asking for that little extra step,” he said.
