MERRIMACK – A request for the rehearing/reconsideration of the Merrimack School District’s current homework grading protocol was denied by the State Board of Education last week without so much as a discussion by board members, according to school Superintendent Marge Chiafery.

The homework protocol, which was implemented on the first day of the 2017-18 school term, mandates that teachers no longer grade homework. It is still assigned, reviewed and returned, but ultimately left up to the students to complete, and not for a grade.

Robert Bevill, a parent and attorney, petitioned in July that the State Board of Education require the district to appeal the protocol, alleging that his daughter’s due process rights were violated. The state board members denied the request and said that although Bevill was a “dedicated and passionate advocate” that “he has not brought forth a viable legal claim to support his position.”

At the time, Bevill called the protocol an “epic failure” and lamented that “there has been no accountability.”

School Board Chair Shannon Barnes said at the beginning of last year that officials would evaluate the protocol– not yet a policy– after midterms and then again at the end of the school year as a sort of trial run for the new pilot program.

However, at each juncture of review, it was determined that there were still “significant misunderstandings” regarding the intent and implementation of the protocol, Assistant Superintendent Mark McLaughlin said. Merrimack board members decided to give the protocol another year to work through some of the perceived issues.

Bevill argued that Merrimack officials did not follow proper procedure for a policy change; there should have been a hearing, multiple readings and a vote, he said.

However, the homework protocol, the district argued, is not a policy, not requiring a vote or hearing.

The State Board denied Bevill’s request. Board Chairman Andrew Cline said that by the state’s minimum instructions standards, a school must have a policy on homework, including its relationship to the grading system. In a plain reading of the language, he said, it cannot be argued that the homework must be graded.

Bevill said in July that he would ask for a rehearing and then move onto the New Hampshire Supreme Court to resolve whether homework can be qualified as a property interest in regards to due process.

At the state board meeting last week, Chiafery said when briefing the Merrimack BOE Monday night, each side had presented more information to support their respective claims. However, Cline only asked for a motion and it was denied without discussion, a move Chiafery said she found “interesting.”

Because his request for a rehearing has been denied, Bevill has 30 days to decide how to proceed. It will likely be late October before they hear anything, Chiafery said, but until then, the protocol will remain in place.

Hannah LaClaire can be reached at 594-1243 or hlaclaire@nashuatelegraph.com.