Should Massapequa 6th Grade Students Move To Berner Middle School? [POLL]

The recent vote to reverse the decision to move Massapequa sixth grade students to Berner Middle School has created controversy between local parents who are split in their support and opposition in the plan.

Earlier this month, 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 the original plan to include 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 fifth grade students.

Last week, a local group started an online petition stop the plan to reverse the decision to send incoming sixth grade students to the middle school this fall.

Opponents of moving the students to middle school, like local mother of three Rose Steina say the reversal is a "travesty for the district."

“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.”

Supporters of the change, like Superintendent Lucille Iconis, say the move will allow the students to get the same quality of education as they have received in previous years.

“The bottom line is this community does not feel that students are ready to enter the middle school when they are in sixth grade,” Iconis told Newsday. “Obviously, we follow the wishes of the board and . . . we are working tirelessly to try and do this."

What do you think?