FAYETTEVILLE - Middle schools will convert to fi fth and sixth grades and junior high schools will become seventh and eighth grades in 2015, the School Board decided Thursday in a 5-2 vote.
Jim Halsell and Becky Purcell voted against that configuration, saying they preferred creating f ive campuses for fifth through eighth grades.
The vote was a disappointment to some parents, primarily whose children attend Butterfield Trail Elementary School, who adamantly supported the alternative to configure middle level education for fi fth through eighth grades.
“I don’t like it. I think our kids will be better served by five through eight,” Stacy Robinson said. “We’ll have todo what is best for our own children. I am disappointed there was no open and honest discussion about what we should do for our kids.”
Robinson was one of a handful of parents who attended the board meeting, in contrast to the 20 or more who have attended earlier meetings to speak in favor of the fifth through eighth proposal.
Purcell said she didn’t see in the study process an acknowledgment of the community’s high regard for health and an increase in opportunities to bike or walk rather than drive a car.
The committee studying the issue also overlooked the input of parents, Purcell said.
Halsell said the district “may have missed an opportunity to center on what is best for kids by not beginning with the end in mind,” noting the fi ve-eight concept was better.
Opinion, Pages 6 on 06/29/2012