City Council supports student retention

During this week’s Council meeting, the Council adopted a resolution in support of allowing students to repeat their grade due to the educational disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a great deal of disruption to many students’ educational, social, and emotional development. While some students are thriving with remote learning, many are struggling due to the increased isolation, uncertainty, and trauma of the pandemic.

The resolution offered by Councilor Essaibi-George, the Chair of the Education Committee, states that, “Meeting students' needs is paramount and for some, automatically moving forward to the next grade may do them more harm. While accommodating many student retention requests may be logistically difficult district-wide, every effort should be made to review the feasibility of a student retention policy, determine the criteria for said policy, assess students, and discuss options with the students, parents, families, or guardians.”

Such a policy could provide options including, but not limited to priority seating for intensive in-person educational opportunities during the summer and during out-of-school-time in the 2021-22 school year, student retention for the fall of school year 2021-22 and advancement in the spring, or student retention for the entirety of school year 2021-22.