Parents object to Celina elementary reading studies

CELINA - Some school board members vowed to remove an apparently contentious component of a newly introduced reading curriculum that some parents believe is too complicated for young children to grasp.

A good-sized crowd gathered at Monday night's regular board meeting, with a few parents voicing their concerns with the reading curriculum component they believe is not age appropriate.

The district has implemented a new K-8 reading curriculum that aims to align reading standards and content, the first such overhaul in more than a decade, board president Craig Flack said. Alongside the curriculum, teachers are undergoing weekly training in a new reading theory program to enhance student literacy, he said.

At issue is one of the knowledge portions - religions - that falls underneath the reading curriculum in the early grades. Board members found out that first graders are learning about Christianity, Islam and Judaism while second graders are being asked to contrast Hinduism and Buddhism.

"And again it was from a social studies perspective. The parents' concerns is that it was just way over their heads," Flack said. "As the one parent expressed concerns, their daughter is struggling to even get reading so are we making sure that we're putting enough time into reading the books?"

Board member Bill Sell, after listening to two parents speak out, questioned if students can understand what's being presented to them.

"I think my concern is that it's a sixth-grade standard for the state-level testing and it's being administered or taught to students that are first and second grade," he said. "It seems like it may be pretty complex from a curriculum perspective, anyway."

Superintendent Ken Schmiesing said adjustments have already been made to the curriculum. He's heard some positive comments about the curriculum as well, namely that it provides consistency and structure across the grade levels.

"We are structured from kindergarten through eighth grade with a curriculum instead of a hodgepodge, you make up your own and you bring this, you bring that, then all of a sudden we have gaps, overlaps, so we're looking to reduce those," he said.

"I think we're all OK with the structure of it. I think it's more of the content of that structure," board member Carl Huber said.

Schmiesing said officials have asked Amplify, a provider of K-12 curriculums and assessments, to replace the religion component with another piece they've developed.

"I believe that they are hearing that probably not only from Celina but other school districts as well," Schmiesing said.

Flack called for the outright removal of the religion component from the K-4 reading curriculum.

"To me, you're going to have this conversation every single year unless you remove that religion piece," Flack said.

The state does not require Celina City Schools to teach religion to grades K-4, Flack contended.

It's too late to go back and remove the religion component for this school year but it can be taken out for the next school year, Flack argued.

"Frankly I don't really care what Amplify says. They work for us. We're their customer. We can change it. I liken it to buying a suit off the rack. You're going to need a tailor," he said.

Flack made clear he doesn't advocate for getting rid of the entire reading curriculum.

"I'm not ready to throw the whole thing out," he said. "We know the arm is too long; let's tailor it to make it shorter so that next year in the fall, we're not running into that," he said.

Huber and board member Deb Guingrich said they agree with Flack. Guingrich also asked for teachers to have flexibility in what they teach.

"For all they do day in and day out, I think they have common sense," Guingrich said. "I think they know what's good to be taught these kids and what's not, so let's let them have a little more control over those decisions."

Sell said he's fielded more calls on this issue than anything else in the last year.

"No one was screaming or yelling but the heartfelt concern and the logic that I was hearing from parents and teachers, it made sense," Sell said. "I had a teacher say, 'The kids don't like it, the parents don't like it at all and we really don't like it much either.'"

If that's the case, the board has to take a hard look at the issue, Sell said.

Flack promised to give parents an update on the religion component at the next board meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 15 in the high school lecture hall.

Board member Barbara Vorhees thanked parents for their input on the matter.

"Sometimes we don't know everything that's going on and you've got us awake. We're paying attention. We're going to look into it and hopefully we can make this a better situation for everybody," she said.