A Look At The TAG Compromise

, four dedicated seventh-graders went to a board of education meeting to voice their displeasure with the cut of the talented and gifted (TAG) science program at the middle school. The board said it was sorry to make the cut, but the budget was tight.

So, the girls continued to look for creative ways to keep the program. Working with Clark Lane Middle School Principal Michael Lovetere, central office and staff, a new plan was finally developed and approved May 26.

Now, students will meet twice every six days after school for advanced science. This will not be part of the curriculum, but a chance for “enrichment,” Superintendent Jerome Belair said.

“The goal in all of the budget reductions from the get-go was to try to find another way to do things,” Belair said. “This is one of those ways.”

Clark Lane Middle School teacher Robin Shine will teach the class. It will cost the district no additional money, Belair said.

A Quick Look At The Process

This year, TAG students have advanced science in the middle school, as well as advanced math classes. Next school year, the science program was set to be cut.

The program was cut because it affected a smaller amount of students who already had one program, Lovetere said. With teachers losing their jobs at the elementary school, this was just something the middle school couldn’t afford anymore, he said.

TAG students pushed for the program, originally asking for it to be reinstated, which was not going to happen with the high costs, Lovetere said. So the TAG students began to look at more creative solutions, and that lead to the after-school program, he said.

“When we first talked to them, they said ‘We want our TAG,' ” Loevetere said. “Then, I think they realized what we were facing, and started looking at other ways to do it, and that was helpful.

“For example, it was good that they said they would be willing to stay after school to do the program,” he said. “That gave us the flexibility to do this… which is really a neat solution.”

Reaction To Program

Parents of TAG students, although appreciative of the effort, were not sure how well the after-school program would work.

For example, Katie Karlberg’s daughter Sarah is in TAG, but she will participate in eighth-grade sports after school. So, she won’t be able to enroll in the TAG program, Karlberg said.

“I am happy they did something,” Karlberg said. “I just don’t know how well it is going to work out.”

In all likelihood, other students will be involved in after-school activities and will not be able to attend either, Karlberg said. Perhaps a better solution would be “leveling” the science program in the curriculum, so students are grouped together by their ability, she said.

Shelley McCormick, whose daughter, Lili, was vocal in pushing for the TAG program, was even less optimistic. The program “is not really what we want,” she said.

McCormick said she moved to Waterford because of the strong school system, which had small class sizes. However, over the past few years the class sizes have increased, so teachers cannot spend quality time with the students, she said.

No teachers would have been laid off, and the class sizes would have stayed the same if the teachers would have accepted a wage freeze to save the district money, McCormick said. While this is understandable, it is also frustrating, she said.

“We could have avoided this if the teachers didn’t take their raises,” she said. “Teachers always say it is about the children, but then they take their raises over helping the children.”