Mt. Laurel parent Kelly Ann Morris was once again before the Mt. Laurel Board of Education on March 22 to ask the board to adopt a policy allowing students who are refusing to take this year’s Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers standardized test to be placed in an alternate room.
Starting with the 2014–2015 school year, PARCC testing replaced the state’s previously administered New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge standardized test.
Leading up to the first round of tests, many parents in the states that partnered with New Jersey in administering PARCC protested the exams.
Some parents went as far as refusing to allow their children to participate in the exams, Morris included.
As with last year’s tests, Mt. Laurel students who refuse to take PARCC this year will remain in the same room as those students taking the test. Refusing students will be allowed to read or complete an alternate assignment during the testing periods.
It was that policy Morris specifically spoke out against.
Morris said she believed students who remain in the room would become a disruption simply from their refusal to take the exams, as those students would begin to question why some students were taking the test and others were not.
Morris said her daughter did not take the exam last year, and after the exams, she received many questions from other students regarding that choice.
As such, Morris once again requested non-test taking students be moved to an alternative room.
Morris said the district needed to take into consideration not just the needs of the students who don’t take the test, but the needs of the students who are taking the test as well.
“If those scores matter and we really think they’re going to be used somewhere else, then those students who are taking it should be taking it seriously, and we want them to not be disrupted,” Morris said.
The board listened to Morris’ comments but did not respond, and the board did not propose or pass any resolution related to PARCC at the meeting.
More information about PARCC and the district’s policies and procedures related to the tests can be found at www.mtlaurelschools.org under “PARCC Testing.”
In other news:
• The March 22 board meeting was the first board meeting Superintendent George Rafferty attended in his new position. The meeting also marked his fifth day in the district.
Rafferty said he had been meeting with teachers and students while touring the district’s schools, and he described his first few days in the district as “wonderful.”
“If first impressions mean anything, I have been wowed by your schools,” Rafferty said.
Rafferty also praised the level of parental involvement in the Mt. Laurel school system, and said he was looking forward to continuing to serve the district.
• School Resource Officer Lester Hann gave a brief presentation regarding the Mt. Laurel Police Department’s upcoming junior police academy.
Hann said many towns near Mt. Laurel already have a similar program, and Mt. Laurel police believed such a program in Mt. Laurel could help police work toward creating a more positive relationship between police and the youth of the community.
“It’s not all the time that we get out there and we’re able to deal with the youth of the community in a positive manner. There are a lot of times where it’s a negative undertone,” Hann said.
The program will be open to all current sixth and seventh graders in Mt. Laurel, and will be held at Harrington Middle School from Aug. 15 to Aug. 19.
Hann said courses would relate to topics such as DWIs, crime scenes, a tour of the Mt. Laurel police station, weapons familiarization, police ethics and more.
• The district is looking to advertise April 26 as the date for the public hearing and final adoption of the 2016–2017 school year budget.
