JAY — Skepticism about the possible benefits of reconfiguring RSU 73’s two elementary schools was raised at Thursday night’s third public forum on improving education.

Superintendent Robert Wall told about 30 people that the status quo was not acceptable, because too many youngsters in the Jay and Livermore elementary schools were not achieving proficiency in most of the tested subjects.

At issue is whether to realign the two schools so all students kindergarten through second-grade attend one school, and grades three through five attend the other.

Letter grades assigned to all schools in the state by the Department of Education this year saw the Jay elementary school get a C and Livermore get a D.

“Are we satisfied with our achievement levels?” Wall asked. “Staying the same will yield the same results. We need to make changes right at the beginning. Fixing students at middle or high school level is not effective.”

He believes grouping similar grade levels could produce better student outcomes.

He said no decisions have been made to change the alignment of the two schools. A proposal will be given to the RSU 73 board in March for action and a timeline for implementation, if it is approved.

In the meantime, board Chairwoman Denise Rodzen wants a list of the advantages and disadvantages of making such a change. She passed out cards to those attending and asked them to make a list for each.

“We want more information from the people in the trenches,” she said.

During the next few weeks, administrators will develop a new retention policy for future board action that will require certain benchmarks youngsters must meet to be promoted to the next grade. Wall pointed out that few students are retained despite not meeting proficiency standards.

“We want what’s on the report card closer to proficiency,” he said.

He said he does not necessarily favor greater student retention.

He also said that two educational consultants and a superintendent from a district that has made the change will speak to administrators and staff Dec. 16.

Resident Larry Thornton suggested that rather than making such a major change all at once, smaller changes in the educational program could be made.

“Going about it this way is forcing it down students’, parents’ and teachers’ throats,” he said.

Others said high rates of absenteeism affect pupil proficiency.

It was also pointed out that the different curricula used by both schools, the variance in how grades are reported and the two systems used for marking periods.

Neither Jay school Principal Chris Hollingsworth nor Livermore school Principal Robert Kahler would provide an opinion on the possible change. Both said the idea has circulated among their staff.

“The purpose of these forums is to do what the community wants,” Hollingsworth said.

Thursday’s session was the third in a series of public forums to gather ideas from the community about how to improve the RSU 73 educational system.

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