White Oak parents still upset over split second and third grade class
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

The school year may be twothirds over, but the split second/ thirdgrade class at White Oak Elementary School continues to vex parents.

In September, school officials formed the blended class to avoid paying penalties for violating the 201 studentteacher ratio mandated by the California Department of Education. The state rule applies to kindergarten through third-grade classes.

At the beginning of the year, 100 of White Oak's 106 thirdgrade students were placed equally into five classes. The extra six students joined 14 second-graders in Diane Ensey's class.

Parents of the six third-graders balked at the combination class, believing their children would not receive the same education as other third-grade students. The issue was brought to the attention of the board of education and promises were made for close oversight of the students' progress in the split class.

Specific complaints

Lori Hultin, parent of one of the third-grade students, said she has been disappointed in the lack of oversight. Hultin drafted a letter to school officials, which was signed by all the parents of third-graders in the split class. The letter outlined concerns from lack of monitoring to student placement and penalties and the emotional well-being of their children.

"In terms of monitoring, there is nothing in your list that has been designed specifically to monitor our children's progress or to compare their progress to other thirdgraders at White Oak," Hultin said in the letter to Ann Eklund, director of elementary education.

"The issue we originally brought to your attention was an issue of inequality, and this issue remains. Everything you list- the back-to-school events, parent/ teacher conferences, STAR testing- these are all the usual, expected ways of monitoring a child's progress, and these are routinely conducted for every child at White Oak and every child in the Las Virgenes School District."

Principal Abbe Irshay said district personnel were to assess how students in the split class were faring.

"Since second trimester assessments have just been completed, Ann Eklund is working on an analysis," Irshay said.

Eklund's written response to parents outlined how the school and district were providing oversight. She said there was collaboration among all third-grade teachers at the school, and students in the split class participated equally in thirdgrade programs.

Eklund's letter didn't quell parents' concerns. "You state that, 'All of the third-graders will participate in the Ellis Island Program . . . and the Wax Museum,' as if this is some sort of special gift we should be thrilled to receive," Hultin said.

She said the students had the same right as all thirdgrade students to participate in these programs, and their participation had nothing to do with the specific issues faced by the students in the split class.

Financial considerations

Another issue that reopened the split class sore spot with parents was when new students came to White Oak in January. The new students were placed in traditional classrooms instead of allowing the split class students a chance to change classrooms.

While one new student replaced a student who left the school, three other new students tipped the 20-1 ratio to 21 students, resulting in a school penalty for violation of the studentteacher ratio. Since the financial penalty was paramount to administrators at the beginning of the year, parents were upset that the rule was disregarded when new students arrived.

Irshay said penalties for violation of the ratio are based on the number of days in the school year. Since the student was placed in the thirdgrade class midyear, the penalty would be far less than it would have been had the six students been divided up among the five thirdgrade classes in September.

"It is our legal obligation to serve the child," Irshay said of new children who move into the area.

Placement criteria

"The district says they used specific criteria to place our six children in the split, yet they subsequently placed two new thirdgraders in that class with no mention of criteria, so it appears two different standards were used," said Joanne Morris, mother of a third-grader in the split class.

"By denying the funds for ours but granting them for others, by holding ours to specific placement criteria but not the others, the only thing consistent about the district and Dr. Irshay's actions in this case is denying these six specific students seats in any and all of the five straight third-grade classes at White Oak," Morris said. She concluded that Irshay's actions were punitive "at best" and possibly discriminatory.

Irshay and Eklund both opposed moving Ensey's split class students into a traditional class so late in the school year.

"It has never been the practice to move students unnecessarily," Irshay said. "Moving one of the third-grade students would mean two disruptions for that child- being taken out of a class that he (or) she has bonded with and, secondly, put into a different class where bonding has already occurred."

Eklund said she agreed. "Also, by this time students have formed strong relationships with their teacher and classmates and adjusted to the classroom management system."

Hultin took offense at Eklund's conclusion that third-grade students in the split class will "continue to have a highly successful year both academically and emotionally."

"I would wager that you have little idea what our children are doing academically, and you certainly have not evaluated how they are doing emotionally," Hultin said.

The disgruntled parents are now just waiting out the school year. "Although it is not in my child's best interest to fight this battle at her school or to demand that she be moved, it is certainly in my interest to ensure that the district and the administration are forthcoming and truthful about their accounts and stand accountable for what they have said and done," Hultin said.