MERRIMACK – Officials in the Merrimack School District stopped grading homework in 2017 and want to continue the practice, but a citizen-petitioned warrant article could allow voters to reinstitute traditional grading.

This is Article 8 on the April 9 ballot. In full, it states: “Shall the voters of the Merrimack School District, in order to raise academic achievement and return grade reporting equity for formative assessments, require that the following statement be amended to the IKB Homework’ Merrimack School Board Policy: ‘At the discretion of the individual teacher, homework assignments will be: (1) collected, reviewed and graded; and (2) the accumulative average of the semester’s homework grade will be counted toward the semester’s grade?'”

The Merrimack School Board does not recommend this petition, and voted to oppose it at their Feb. 18 School Board meeting by a vote of 5-0. Superintendent Marge Chiafrey said during the meeting that the petition is advisory only.

In 2017, the district homework protocol was changed to mandate that teachers would no longer grade homework.

In a letter distributed to district parents in September 2017, Merrimack Assistant Superintendent Mark McLaughlin wrote, “Per the district policy, homework must be evaluated and returned to students in a timely manner; evaluated does not mean graded. Rather, it means that, since any homework assignment must be purposeful and an aid in the student’s educational experience, anything assigned as homework must be reviewed for content and used as a tool by the educator to evaluate a student’s progress toward understanding of key concepts contained in the assignment.”

This new protocol left some parents upset. The Telegraph reported in July that Robert Bevill, a district parent, asked the state to appeal Merrimack’s controversial homework protocol, which he alleged violated his daughter’s due process rights. The State Board of Education sided with district officials at the hearing. The matter was also brought to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, but the court chose not to take action.

Bevill spoke during the Feb. 18 meeting. He said the petition was signed by current and former Merrimack officials, along with parents and residents.

“This homework protocol was enacted without proper vote of school board,” Bevill said. “It was enacted based on feelings, not facts.”

Bevill said the protocol punished students by forcing them to compete at a disadvantage compared to others.

“Passing the article puts the seniors back in fair competition and returns them to a level playing field with other students competing for college acceptance and merit-based scholarship opportunities,” Bevill said. “It also helps students at the lower end to pass classes and graduate with dignity and grace.”

However, McLaughlin told The Telegraph there have been misunderstandings about the homework protocol.

“When we decided not to grade homework, somehow that became ‘Merrimack doesn’t do homework.'” McLaughlin said this couldn’t be further from the truth, McLaughlin said.

He also said the intent of the protocol was to have more transparency in the students’ work. “There has been a big misunderstanding that we are letting kids off easy,” McLaughlin said.

School Board Chair Shannon Barnes told The Telegraph there are innacuracies in the petition put forth regarding the homework protocol. Barnes said the school board is careful to do everything in best interest of students with guidance.

Barnes told The Telegraph that the school board will continue to voice what they are doing with homework and that homework is designed to be practice. She said homework is designed to take a student’s organic work. If there is pressure on a grade, it might not result in a student’s true work.

During the Feb. 18 meeting, board member Brandi Nunez said she believed there was a misunderstanding of the homework protocol and that there needs to be a way to clearly communicate the petition. “What I hear Mr. Bevill say is not in line with the homework protocol itself, so it’s really frustrating for me to have a petition when it’s not in line with what the homework protocol truly is,” Nunez said.

“It’s not how we do things,” Barnes said, later adding, “I think we are in a good place. I think this petition warrant article is based on inaccuracy.”

“This (protocol) does not mean kids aren’t doing homework at all,” Board member Cinda Guagliumi added. “It’s just not counting toward grades.”

However, board member Naomi Schoenfield said she found that not being able to receive feedback from her principal on what she should be doing better in terms of assigning homework would have been problematic for her growth as an educator.

Grace Pecci may be reached at 594-1243, or at gpecci@nashuatelegraph.com.