PEABODY, MA — The state Department of Education has sided with Peabody Public Schools in the district's decision to promote 22 eighth-grade students to high school who were subsequently denied enrollment into Essex Tech.
The dispute involved Essex Tech admissions asserting that the students, who were set to receive an invitation to the career and technical school through being chosen in the new "blind lottery" system, did not sufficiently fulfill eighth-grade graduation requirements by the district's own standards and were, therefore, not eligible for admission.
The district argued that, as a state public high school, Essex Tech should be required to admit any student that is awarded a seat through the lottery system and that the district deems eligible for promotion at its own discretion.
DESE conducted an investigation into Essex Tech Superintendent Heidi Riccio's general education complaint on the matter and found, essentially, that the district does have discretion to promote the students under its own policy even if the students failed multiple core courses.
The policy states that the district has "grounds for automatic retention" for any student who fails two or more subjects, which Essex Tech has argued should have disqualified at least some of the students from promotion. However, DESE ruled that the district is not required to retain those students if it finds that there were mitigating factors — including steps to make up the coursework or going through an individualized assessment that determines the student would be best served with grade promotion.
"The district complied with its own promotion policy as it relates to the 22 promoted students," DESE concluded. "The term 'grounds' is not uniquely or otherwise defined by the
policy. As such, (DESE) reasonably interprets the district's policy to allow, but does not require, the retention of a student who fails more than two core classes."
Peabody Superintendent Josh Vadala released a joint statement with 20 other North Shore superintendents, including those from Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Salem and Swampscott, saying that — as a public high school — Essex Tech must honor all promotion decisions made by sending districts and should not exercise its own admission standards that exceed or supersede those of those districts.
"It is our firm belief that when a Massachusetts public school district promotes a student to the next grade level, all other public school districts must respect and accept the decision," the statement to Patch said. "This logic applies if a student's
family moves from one district to another, or if a student uses school choice to move to another school, or if
a public school eighth grader elects to attend a Career and Technical Education school."
The dispute comes in the wake of DESE's decision to eliminate the CTE schools' admissions process that had previously involved an interview, recommendations, a demonstrated interest in CTE coursework, and review of attendance, among other factors.
Vocational school superintendents, including Riccio, argued that process was necessary to determine a student's best fit in a CTE program for their benefit and for the benefit of fellow students.
But some elected officials and several North Shore school superintendents charged that it amounted to an unfair, and often merit-based, selection process that often shut out students most in need of a CTE path and instead of creating the type of obligation to provide an educational pathway for all students that every public school must pursue.
Current State Secretary of Education Steve Zrike was one of the superintendents who advocated in favor of the blind lottery system over the interview-based system when he was then superintendent at Salem Public Schools.
"Our comprehensive school districts and CTE schools have a long history of collaboration, support and mutual respect," the joint superintendents' letter said. "The current debate is disappointing, and the infighting does no good, least of all to the students caught in the crossfire.
"Public schools should accept the actions of another public school, and no public school may reject a student on the grounds of where they are from or what prior struggles they overcame."
In its investigation, DESE determined that, of the 22 students in question, seven failed more than two core classes, eight failed one or two classes, and seven did not fail any classes. Fourteen of the 15 students who failed one or more core classes "took relevant remediation courses," according to the investigation.
"For each promoted student," the DESE investigation determined, "the district demonstrated that it conducted an
individualized assessment of each student and their relevant circumstance before determining whether to promote or retain the student.
"These individualized assessments considered a variety of factors including engagement with remediation course(s), attendance, and other factors unique to the student that were relevant to their current and/or future performance."
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