As lawmakers advance a reading retention bill, some local educators say the state should focus on early intervention, instead.
Lake Central Director of Primary Education Yolanda Bracey says the focus should be on putting a plan in place for students who can't pass the I-READ test in third grade. "Not every child is going to read by third grade, and that's just the reality of it," Bracey told the Lake Central School Board on Monday. "But we should have to have a plan for them, but not retention."
Superintendent Dr. Larry Veracco suggested that the state could address reading in other ways, like increasing funding for preschool or requiring kids to attend kindergarten.
Director of Student Services Becky Gromala said schools typically make student decisions based on a variety of factors, while the bill would require them to hold students back based on a single test. "Retention in and of itself is not an intervention," Gromala said. "Giving a child more of the same thing and just repeating more is not going to make a difference for students."
She also worried that more retention could have social and emotional consequences, and ultimately, lead more students to drop out of school.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Veracco is also watching a bill that aims to further crack down on drivers who pass school buses with the stop arm extended. Veracco noted that Lake Central alone experienced 350 stop arm violations last school year.
"Many of us in the office, we scratch our heads because — we've been driving for 44 or 45 years. We've never once thought about driving around a school bus, but yet, it appears that it's not taboo to a lot of people," Veracco told the school board.
Veracco said a bill requiring schools to release students for religious instruction, if requested, shouldn't pose too big of a challenge, since Lake Central High School already does that. But he's concerned about a provision allowing chaplains to serve as school counselors, unless they're properly trained in child psychology.