MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Two dozen concerned residents waited eagerly for the Manitowoc school board to make a decision on a proposed curriculum program.
But in the end, no decision was made as the board decided to delay a vote to allow for more time to discuss.
“As much as I want to adopt this right now and say ‘let’s go for it’, I would like to however put a pause on it to have a group of people come together and see if there’s any way that what you’ve chosen can have a marriage with what we’ve been talking about as far as a pilot program,” School Board President Stacey Soeldner said.
Soeldner said it’s too important to rush into a decision. However, she says she wants to implement aspects of a plan already in the works. The board’s plan has been controversial among community members on social media.
One says,
How on Earth did we get to where we are today in having a Board who claims to “love” all of children so much and have “respect” for our educators that they dismiss curriculum choices based on the research and vetting of MPSD educators and are likely to choose a school reform program in which no curriculum has been evaluated by district staff and is not used in any Wisconsin Public Schools.
District officials decided not to commit to anything. Teachers and principals in the district collaborated on the English Language Arts proposal. Those who presented say it was made to address low ELA proficiency levels.
After staying quiet through most of the board discussion, Interim Superintendent James Feil says he wants the community’s input to be heard before a decision is made. He also says it’s about more than just curriculum.
“There’s systems that need to be in place for everything to work,” Fiel said. “We also think about our teachers and what are we doing in really engaging in the training and the enforcement.”
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