Massapequa School Board Votes To Reverse Plan To Include 6th Graders At Middle School

The Massapequa School District recently voted to reverse the plan to include sixth grade at Berner Middle School at a meeting last week.

During the meeting on Thursday, the Board of Education approved two resolutions reversing the plan to move of the grade 6 program to the middle school by a 3-2 vote.

In February, the board voted to approve including sixth grade at Berner Middle School in Massapequa, also by a 3-2 vote, which would have been in effect starting September 2017.

The elementary schools even recently hosted moving-up ceremonies for the 5th grade students.

However, after the vote last week, the 6th grade students will remain in the elementary schools and Berner Middle School will now continue in a grade 7-8 configuration for the upcoming 2017-18 school year.

"We will continue to keep you apprised of revised plans and procedures that will be implemented over the next few weeks in order to ensure a smooth transition for all of our students and staff," the district wrote in a message on the school website.

It appears as though not all parents are happy with this change, like local mother of three Rose Steina who called the reversal a "travesty for the district," according to a report in Newsday.

“It’s really not about the move anymore," she told Newsday. "They told these kids that they were going in to a new school. They graduated them. Money has been spent, teachers have been hired. The kids are ready to go.”