Schools Solicit Parent Input

As part of an attempt to resolve the decades-old debate on the ideal structure for Cambridge’s middle schools, Cambridge Public Schools Superintendent of Schools Thomas D. Fowler-Finn offered parents the opportunity to communicate their concerns in two public input sessions this week.

“This is to put to rest this whole hubbub,” Fowler-Finn told the audience on Wednesday night.

The meetings were a result of the district’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Middle School Education, a formalized effort to study and improve the city’s middle school system. The Commission charged Fowler-Finn with presenting a set of recommendations to the school committee, based on feedback from administrators, teaching staff, and parents.

On both nights, Fowler-Finn went over the pros and cons of four potential options for Cambridge’s middle schools, which include working with the current K-8 structure, establishing a 6-8 middle school, creating a 7-8 grade unit at the city’s high school, or enlarging the 6-8 units at current K-8 schools. He asked parents to submit their comments on each option in written form, which he said he would use in formulating his recommendations.

Parents, who were also allowed to share their thoughts at the meetings, often expressed opposing viewpoints. Fowler-Finn said he acknowledged that the district may not be able to satisfactorily accommodate everyone’s concerns.

“Notice that I never use the word solution,” he said.

School Committee member Marc C. McGovern, who favors maintaining the K-8 model, said that a total overhaul of structure would not solve problems in the classroom.

“There’s really no consensus on what structure is better,” he said. “I think we need to concentrate on teaching and curriculum, replicating what works, creating healthy school environments. If we do that, the kids are going to do great, and that’s ultimately what we want.”

Although there have been proposals for improving the city’s middle schools in the past, School Committee member Joseph G. Grassi, who chairs the Blue Ribbon Commission with Fowler-Finn, said there had never been meetings like these to discuss the issue with the public.

Fowler-Finn, who will step down as superintendent in four months, is expected to present several formal recommendations to the school committee in November. In December, the committee will make the final decision on whether to proceed with any plan of action.

But Grassi emphasized that the committee would be prudent in their decision making.

“I would think the committee would not rush any recommendations through [due to] the sheer fact that he’s leaving in February,” Grassi said. “It’s very difficult to pass something for someone else to implement.”

—Staff writer Michelle L. Quach can be reached at mquach@fas.harvard.edu.