People air concerns about change at schools

CENTERVILLE — Among some concerns from parents and teachers over a district initiative that requires all elementary schools in the parish to departmentalize grades kindergarten through fifth, members of the school board agreed to host a meeting at the St. Mary Parish School Board Central Office Complex located in Centerville on Monday.
Those in attendance from the school district were Superintendent Theresa Bagwell, Assistant Superintendent Joe Stadalis, Director of Human Resources Suzanne Bergeron, and Instructional Supervisor, Niki Fryou.
The meeting was open to all concerned with these changes that took place last year to come and voice their concerns and ask questions. The majority in attendance were stakeholders from Wyandotte. Wyandotte was the only parish elementary that did not departmentalize their kindergarten and first grade classes last year, and they were hopeful that they would not have to departmentalize them this school year.
Bagwell requested that those in attendance would voice their questions and concerns first, and then she, as well as those in attendance with her, would address them.
Mary Tamporello, a retired kindergarten teacher who taught in St. Mary Public schools for 31 years, was the first to rise and address the audience. Tamporello offered her professional opinion that departmentalization in kindergarten is “developmentally inappropriate since so many transitions in a given day can be a struggle for 4- and 5-year-old children. Some can adapt. Some can’t”
She offered evidence to support her argument from a report created by Dr. Clarence Bergeron, a licensed psychologist in Houma, stating, “There are very important issues that relate to keeping children between the ages of 5 and 8 with one teacher throughout the day. Each student should adapt to one single teacher’s teaching style.
“The teacher’s expectations can easily be assimilated by the young child with only one teacher at a time. With three teachers their ability to assimilate and follow the rules and teaching methods of each individual teacher is practically impossible.”
Tamporello’s own grandson was in a departmentalized kindergarten class last school year. Tamporello said, “It took until the spring for him to not come home exhausted. At graduation he told me he didn’t have to change the last two days and it was wonderful.”
Shane Lacoste, who has a daughter starting kindergarten this year, asked the board if the decision was research based. “Or are you just stabbing in the dark?”
Jean Paul Bourg followed with “shouldn’t it be up to the principal to have the authority to make this decision for their school?”
Elizabeth Bearb, a kindergarten teacher at Wyandotte, said that the feedback she was receiving from teachers who departmentalized kindergarten last year was very negative. She said that most teachers claimed they were unhappy with the changes and “unhappy should not be a word used to describe kindergarten.” Bearb’s concern was that “we are being told we have to do it without being asked what we think is best.”
Morgan City Councilman, Louis Tamporello, said, “I want to know what we are going to accomplish with this. We have lost sight of the children aspect.”
He continued: “Folks, we are struggling keeping people here and kids in our public schools. People are pulling to private schools or not wanting in our system with these demands we are placing on children.”
Bagwell started her answers by saying, “We want to do better, better, better as the state ratchets up the requirements.” She said that departmentalization started as a conversation stemming from “how are we going to meet Tier I curriculum?”
The new curriculum being used in the public schools are labeled as Tier I curriculum. At Tier 1, considered the key component of tiered instruction, all students receive instruction within an evidence-based, scientifically researched core program. Usually, the Tier 1 instructional program is synonymous with the core reading or math curriculum that is typically aligned with state standards.
Bagwell said, “Members of the School Board were able to attend a Redesign state conference where they were given the opportunity to visit schools and see departmentalization first-hand.” This concept is being used in many other schools across the nation. When those that attended returned, the conversation continued, and they began the idea of piloting the program.
Instructional Supervisor Niki Fryou said Raintree Elementary was in redesign and was perfect and on-board to pilot the program. Fryou said that all the feedback she was receiving with this change was positive. Even the coaches who come to train and assist teachers with the new curriculum were “blown away with the implementation.”
The 2018-2019 school year, with the successes being seen with departmentalizing and positive feedback, it was decided to be a district initiative where all elementary schools in the parish would implement this concept. Bagwell explained that what they have seen is that this format offers a student the ability to be instructed by teachers who have a greater depth of knowledge and training because they are able to focus on less content areas.
Bagwell told the audience, “I understand that it’s nerve-wracking to think of these transitions, but they have them for P.E., art, or other things.”
Bergeron said, “It is doable, and it can work. I’ve seen it with positive feedback.”
She also said, “Our world is changing. We can’t keep doing the same thing. We need to better prepare them.”
Fryou said, “I had big reservations.”
But at the end of the 2018-2019 school year, she said, she asked for feedback from teachers in our parish who were departmentalized, and she received 29 emails, all were positive. “Only one focused on what was better for her. … All the others were the positives for the kids.”
An emotional Bagwell looked into the audience and stated that most of the faces she saw were former students. She said that those people were “her kids. “
She said, “I cared for you when I taught you, I care for you today, and I will care for you tomorrow. This is what educators do.”
Bagwell said, “We will evaluate this year after year. Our goal is the whole child’s well-being. We wouldn’t be educators if we didn’t want what is best for the children.”