First Posted: 3/2/2015
ELIDA — As testing season is in full swing, PARCC testing remains a concern for school districts — including Elida.
The issue was cause for a special school board meeting last night as Pat Schymanski, liason, has been asked to testify in front of state officials regarding the school board’s stance on the issue.
The group is not a proponent of the new testing system and the amount of time it takes from class time.
“It’s caused some big problems,” said board member Jeff Christoff.
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers testing is new testing that all districts in Ohio must do this school year. PARCC is an additional test, not a replacement.
Though most on the board agreed there needs to be some type of system to gauge student progress, it was unanimous that PARCC’s not the answer. Instead, the board is in favor of choosing the tests they would like to administer.
Elida High School Principal Darren Sharp spoke on the issue. As a parent and an educator, the principal was concerned about the amount of time and effort, among many other elements, that PARCC was taking — not only for students but for school administrators, staff and teachers.
“I’m not saying I’m against Common Core or against testing,” Sharp said. “But the amount of time we spend on testing is taking away from the jobs that our fine teachers are trying to do. … I have to sit in front of parents and take on these conversations (about PARCC tests) day in and day out, knowing in my heart of hearts it’s not right.”
The official stopped in the middle of his comments during the public commentary session, not only to gather his thoughts but to compose himself.
“To say that I’m passionate about seeing Elida schools at the best it can be is an understatement,” he said.
Sharp also asked for transparency from the board in dealing with new school safety policies, which would enable school officials or volunteers to have firearms on school safety zones. The board passed a draft of the policy during the meeting, but further action, including community discussion, will need to take place before definite approval.
Sharp’s sentiment was also passionately voiced by high school science teacher Phil Hesseling and community member Ron Peare. Peare challenged the board, asking it to take more action and issue a resolution to support public opinion regarding PARCC testing.
“We’re the boss,” he said. “Not you.”
